Escape from Team Galactic!
by Acooler1
Summary: Pluto, formerly a Commander of the sinister Team Galactic, severs his ties when he believes Cyrus is taking things a bit too far for his new world. Now considered Team Galactic's enemy, he'll have to fight his former comrades while on his Sinnoh journey.
1. Chapter 1: Collections of a Commander

Author's Notes: Welcome, to those of you who clicked on this page, to my fanfiction, Escape from Team Galactic! This is my first fanfiction ever; after reading so many on this site I got inspired to write one myself. Hope I do a good enough job on it… Reviews would be nice, as I can see how I'm coming along with my story.

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or anything related to it. I do, however, own this fanfiction and a copy of Pokemon Pearl for the Nintendo DS.**_

Ch. 1: Collections of a Commander

"Everything belongs to Team Galactic! Look beyond the world – space will become Team Galactic's!"

Yes, I'm sure.

That posted up credo we have to repeat in front of our boss everyday—just to try to get a smile on his face. I realized that he never smiles. Well, who am I to say anything? There used to be a time when I used to smile. It feels like forever since then, however.

Fitting for a commander of Team Galactic to never smile. Especially not one who is nicknamed "The Steel Spear." However, I wish the grunts below me would simply call me Commander Pluto. I think I knew why Boss Cyrus came up with that planet as my title. I appear to be anti-social and cold to most people. Actually, I kinda _am_ anti-social. The "being cold towards others" thing only occurs to people who get on my nerves. Which is almost everyone here.

Most people wonder why a person would want to join Team Galactic. They steal Pokemon from most everyone they're ordered to, and they undertake projects nobody in the outside world can even begin to guess at. Not even the grunts have any idea of what the big picture is. I simply joined because I thought that there were people like me there. People who were sick of society as it were and wanted a change.

What kind of change, you ask?

I'm not even sure myself, but any change for the better.

For 3 years now, I've done my part in the organization, crushing opponents and their Pokemon with the steel-types that I love so much. Whenever I was called to duty, I carried my weight, and damn near everyone else's as well. It drove me to annoyance. However, it also drove me to a promotion opportunity.

A year ago, in Eterna City, we were scheduled to set up a building there to observe Mt. Coronet more closely. There was some resistance by local enforcement, but everybody else, with their Zubat and Bronzor and Glameow and Stunky were just creamed. It was 20 of us against 8 of them and it all came down to me against the three leaders of the resistance. While each had one Pokemon left – a Torterra, an Infernape, and an Empoleon if I remember correctly—I had to release my Scizor and Magneton to back up my Skarmory. My battle strategy was simple…

* * *

_Flashback Part 1_

_"Skarmory, use Agility to kick up some dust. Magneton, Charge! Scizor, Focus Energy, now!"_

_"SKAR!"_

_Within seconds, a tornado of dust was enveloping the three_ _opposing Pokemon._

_"Haha! This is gonna be child's play!" The leader with his Torterra. "You think we're going to just stand here while our Pokemon suffocate under a cloud of dust? I don't think so! Torterra, use __Earth-"_

_**BOOM!**_

_He never did get the chance to finish declaring his attack. While he was rambling on, I issued orders for Magneton to use Zap Cannon__, it's most powerful Electric attack,__ out of earshot and out of sight of everybody else. With that tornado of dust in the middle of the battlefield, those three goons couldn't see me giving orders__ to my Pokemon__. Skarmory__, who rehearsed this countless times with Magneton and Scizor,__ flew out of the way just in time to avoid the overwhelming shock that the leader's buddies' Infernape and especially Empoleon would experience. _

_And then the dust cleared. But not before…_

_"Sciiiiii… Zor!"_

_Slash!_

_Right in the noggin! A well-placed X-Scizzor attack on Torterra's head __caught it off guard and __knocked it out cold. I knew it would still be standing after Magneton's Zap Cannon because it was part ground-type._

_So, that Protein stuff really works after all!_

_"Infernape!"_

_"Empoleon!"_

_"Torterra!"_

_In __defeated __unison: "Return!"_

_And no sooner than they did they were tied up by my comrades. _

* * *

_Flashback Part 2_

_"I heard there was a rebellion against our efforts to build in Eterna City." Commander Saturn said over the phone. "And yet you were the one who felled the three leaders of their resistance. Grunts have been talking about it left and right yesterday. Even Commander Jupiter praised your efforts."_

_Commander Jupiter praises people? I thought to myself. In the two years that I have been under her command since the age of 19, she never praised any of the grunts for any of the work we did. Just merely scoffed at them for not getting it done sooner. _

_The most beautiful women __we__re always the hardest to please._

_"Well, I couldn't have done it without my Pokemon. They're the ones who deserve the praise."_

_"Well, I suppose you're right. I suppose the boss' decision to let you keep your own Pokemon was a sound one, it seems. He must've had some perception that you would make a big impact on Team Galactic. Would you believe that there may be a promotion in the works for you when you return to __Veilstone __City__?"_

_A promotion! Bigger paychecks, more respect, and I may actually get to date a few women!_

_"He plans to see your power for himself. Boss Cyrus expects you to be everything that the grunts were saying about__ you," said Commander Saturn. "__I look forward to seeing you back."_

_"I look forward to meeting with the boss. Tell him that he will not be disappointed with me."_

_"…I shall. Good day to you… Terrence."_

_"Good day to you__ too__, Commander Saturn."_

_Click!_

_And then I realized… nobody has __ever __said my true name ever since I joined Team Galactic. _

* * *

Who knew that releasing your anger of the world out with Pokemon would prove so beneficial? After returning to Veilstone City, I had a one-on-one battle with Boss Cyrus: his Sneasel against my Skarmory; the match ended in a tie (both our Pokemon used Slash on each other at the same time). He acknowledged my skill and named me Commander Pluto, while the grunts who were with me during that past operation kept glorifying me as "The Steel Spear." But what can you do? A person wouldn't give up his or her good status for no good reason, right? 

Unless one felt there was no reason to continue on.

After becoming Commander, I took notice that Boss Cyrus had plans that I couldn't begin to guess at. He wanted to harness the power of Dialga and Palkia, the two legendary Pokemon people say created this region. With that power, he would completely remake the universe and make _himself_ a deity in his new world.

This held a few problems with me.

I've read stories about what had happened when people messed with legendary Pokemon. There was this evil syndicate named Team Rocket that was based in the Kanto Region, who extracted data from Mew and created Mewtwo. But Mewtwo was too powerful for even them, and broke away from the clutches of Team Rocket, and it was said that he actually faced off against Mew. I forgot the rest, but there was this other story about these groups Team Magma and Team Aqua that were based in my native region of Hoenn, who tried to expand the land mass and the sea, respectively, with Magma capturing Groundon and Aqua controlling Kyogre. There was something else about two orbs that ultimately put the two at peace. All I know was that if anything like that was to happen with Dialga and Palkia, the results would be… catastrophic, and that's a hell of an understatement.

I mean, these two Pokemon controlled _time_ and _space_. If Boss Cyrus messed this up, everybody's sense of time would be warped. Heck, we might not even _exist_ for all I know.

I didn't know that Boss Cyrus was going to _these_ extremes when he said he was going to create a new world. He literally meant it!

But the ones who complain are ultimately the ones who do nothing. I'm not going to fall in that category. So I'm going to save as many Pokedollars as I possibly can with my increased salary, until I find the perfect opportunity to strike against Team Galactic.

…Alone if I have to.


	2. Chapter 2: Making Plans, Making Magic

**Author's Notes: So you're interested enough that you click over to the next chapter in my Fanfiction? That's a good sign. I also forgot to mention in my last Author's Notes; there will be a few spoilers for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl as far as the storyline goes, so if you don't want part of the storyline ruined for you, then you might want to stop reading. Or If you already played it or just don't care, then please, read and review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. For all those who missed this part in the last chapter.**

Chapter 2: Making Plans, Making Magic

"Dude! You caught Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf?"

"It wasn't just me, Pluto. Commanders Mars and Jupiter were sent to the three lakes as well." Commander Saturn told me. "Had there been a fourth one to capture, I am definitely sure you would've succeeded in reining it in for us."

Thank goodness there wasn't, I thought to myself.

I stared at them in all of their glory… well, all of their subdued glory. The three legendary Pokemon who kept Dialga and Palkia in check appeared to be sleeping, though with Team Galactic, they must've found some way to forcibly submit these three to their will. This little dark room that they were kept in didn't seem to fit their vibrant shades at all.

So, they're going through with this plan even faster than I thought. Would 30,000 Pokedollars be enough to survive as a fugitive?

"So now that these three are out of the way," Commander Saturn explained, breaking me out of my thoughts, "we will allow Boss Cyrus to proceed with his plan to reach the peak of Mt. Coronet on Saturday. That means all Commanders – with the exception of me – and available grunts will leave before first light tomorrow. I have to stay behind and monitor the activities of these three." He waited for me to nod my head in understanding. "Make sure that your team is notified of this. Bring only your best grunts—this mission must not fail."

"Gotcha. I'll tell everyone on my squad to prepare for the greatest undertaking in Team Galactic history."

"I wish I could be there to experience the new world that he will bring about."

_A possible __screw up__ will ensure that there __**is**__ no new world to bring about._ I have to put a stop to this. And by myself, as well. I don't trust anybody enough in this syndicate to let them know of my plans to desert Team Galactic.

"All right Saturn, I'll ensure that Boss Cyrus succeeds in his mission for a new world." _Psyche._

"I look forward in hearing about your progress."

"OK. I'm going to alert my grunts. Have a good day, Saturn."

"Same to you, Pluto."

* * *

As I made my way through the teleporters that dotted the HQ, I kept thinking to myself about all of the things that I have done here. I'm assisting an evil organization set on rebuilding the world, set up a two weeks' notice a month ago to escape to the Fuego Ironworks to catch a Steelix which I have been training rigorously, and then served as guardian of the HQ when the boss decided to take a vacation while the other three Commanders were on that mission, which I now fully believe was the capture of those three legendaries I saw earlier. That situation led me to a level of freedom I hadn't experienced in a while. I remember it like it was three days ago… 

Well, it _was_ three days ago, but that's beside the point…

While the Boss and the Commanders were away, I allowed my grunts to play. …Well, just because I'm the "Steel Spear," it doesn't mean I rule with an iron fist. In fact, I treat my men and women a hell of a lot nicer than all of the other Commanders, so my grunts were allowed to party and do whatever to their heart's content as long as they followed three simple rules:

_

* * *

_

_Flashback __Part 1_

_"__Don't leave the HQ; two people, chosen in a random lo__ttery must keep watch every four__ hours, myself included; and clean up whatever you mess up.__ Got it?"_

_"Yes sir, Commander Pluto!" eighteen voices shouted in unison._

_After drawing from the lottery, in which two of the guys hung their heads afterwards, I allowed my grunts almost free reign over Galactic Headquarters. __Within minutes I saw a Nintendo Wii hooked up in the large viewing room and others playing a game involving colored cards of red, blue, yellow, green and black. Myself, I sat back and watched everyone __else destro__y each other in __Super Smash Bros. Brawl__, with someone kicking major butt with a Pikachu placed in the game to try to a__ttract Pokemon trainers to play. __As if the game wasn't popular enough already._

_After a few amusing battles of my own, I teleported my way to the hall that led directly to my room. Turning a corner, I didn't notice someone walking on the other side when suddenly…_

_**BUMP!**_

_"Ouch!"_

_She fell to the floor and dropped some papers along with her._

_"__C-Commander P-P-Pluto!" she gasped, turning her face up to gaze at me. And then she quickly turned away. Was that a blush on her face?_

_She was one of the new recruits who, after demonstrating her efficiency with Pokemon, was issued a standard Bronzor as her Pokemon. But one would never expect such a __beautiful__ girl to hold on to a Bronzor. That goldenrod hair, which stopped at her mid-back, with matching eyes that sparkled. And pale, white skin that made her seem like an innocent maiden. And those well-shaped legs and hips and full breasts…_

_Wait a minute! I'm her commander—I shouldn't be thinking about her li__ke this. Business and pleasure d__o _not_ mix. But it would be a most satisfying experience to try… __aw__, man! Shut up, shut up, __shut _up!

_"You all right?" I asked, helping the angel get on her feet._

_"Um… thank you, I'm fine," she replied._

_"You know, your voice is really soft, but also high pitched for a girl."_

_"Um…"_

_"Take it as a compliment."_

_A smile. "OK, whatever you say, Commander Pluto."_

_"I never got to ask your name though. Would you tell me what it is?"_

_"It's Allison, Commander Pluto. I know all about you; all of the other grunts refer to you as the 'Steel Spear' after an incident that occurred in Eterna City. It__'s an honor to serve under you." Man, was she shy. She can barely make eye contact with me when trying to talk. Does she like me, or am I intimidating her unintentionally?_

_"Well, yeah, that's me," I replied, suddenly at a loss for words to say to her. "Um… Where are you headed with that stack of papers?"_

_"Downstairs to the Viewing Room. We all need to keep score when playing cards." _

_"Um... Can I teleport with you down?"_

_

* * *

__15 minutes later, we finally arrived at the Viewing Room. Well, it actually took 5 minutes from the way we came, but __we__ were__ walking slowly as to try to extend out time together. We__ enjoye__d each other's company more than__ either of us were willing to admit__ openly at least._

_"Well, we're here at last," I reluctantly said._

_"It was nice chatting with you," replied Allison._

_You have no idea how nice, I thought to myself._

_"We should do this again sometime. If you're not busy, search me out," I told her._

_"I will."_

_A few more moments of silence. Very awkward silence._

_"So, I'll__…__ see you later then."_

_"Right__…__ Goodbye, Commander __Pluto__."_

_"Goodbye… Allison."_

_Man, even the way her hair sways when she walks away is beautiful. __After watching her go out of sight before the electronic doors closed, __I decided to take another walk around the HQ, this time thinking about the conversation I had with Allison. She confessed to me that __she had a Beautifly and a Heracross__ hidden away from the syndicate. She's a fanatic of bug-type Pokemon, apparently. She also informed me that she was born in __Pastoria City__ and joined Team Galactic simply because she needed money as an orphan._

_Pretty soon, I teleported to a door that opened to a small room lined with beds. There was a poster on one side of the wall that said: _

_"Team Galactic Nap Room: Ensure the bed is unoccupied before getting into it!"_

_Reading that brought about laughter to my lips. That last message was posted because Commander Mars caught two of her own grunts in bed together and got as hot as the sun. Shortly afterwards, the two were severely punished and stripped of their standard issue Pokemon, and sentenced to menial work within the syndicate, sweeping and taking out trash, that sort of thing. But that didn't stop others from trying to sneak a love session inside of there. I can remember three or four nights when I had the midnight patrol shift and I walked by there, and I saw soft moans and saw a few locks of violet hair. I looked discreetly in the small window and saw Commander Jupiter, in all her glory, straddling herself on top of one of **her**_ _grunts. So maybe she did give praise to her grunts after all, I chuckled. I didn't want to intrude, so I simply walked away unnoticed. When my shift was over, I climbed in to bed, secertly wishing for the next couple of months that **I **was the one she was on top of._

_But I dismissed those thoughts when I suddenly found myself yawning. "Man, I'm tired. __I gotta go to sleep before __I wind up doing something I regret later." So I crawled into one of the beds in the farthest corner of the room. I was known for doing random things like that. What kind of a Commander would sleep in a bed made for lowly grunts when he has a nice queen-size bed in his own room? Because I know all grunts aren't that lowly. Look at me, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; we all used to be grunts in our early days with the syndicate, and now we have risen above that rank. Greatness can come from anywhere, even from a grunt._

_While my eyes closed to deliver me to that peaceful realm of sleep, I was thinking about one particular grunt right now._

_"Allison."_

_Iop_

_Flashback Part 2_

_On the last day of my supervision of HQ, I had just gotten off of watch duty__ at 2:00 a.m__. And man, was I lucky to have Allison to be my partner._

_She told me that she aspired to become a bug-type trainer much similar to Aaron of the Elite Four is in this region. She also has plenty of jars of honey in her backpack that her Pokemon love._

_"One day, if I get the chance, I'd like to travel all around Sinnoh and get to meet a lot of Pokemon," she said as we sat on the bed in my room. "And maybe one day, I can have a battle with Aaron himself! Then I'll know just how good I am."_

_"When you get that chance, I know you'll take it with all your heart," I replied. "There's just one thing, though."_

_"What is it?" Allison replied, with a curious look in her eyes._

_"Team Galactic."_

_"What about Team Galactic?"_

_I regarded her with a serious look.__ "They won't even let you use your own Pokemon to carry out missions, and you just can't keep hiding them forever, you know. The only way you can set about achieving your goal is to run away from this place."_

_"Well… I was having second thoughts about joining Team Galactic. But my financial troubles won out in the end. I can barely afford to buy a standard supply of Poke Balls and potions."_

_Oh, yeah, she__ did say that she was an orphan.__ Wait a __minute;__ did she just say that she was having second thoughts about being with this organization? Because if she did…_

_"You might be able to help me somehow," I told her._

_Without hesitation: __"I'd love to help you in any way I can, Commander Pluto."_

_Should I really tell her what's been in the back of my mind? I mean, I've only known her for only two days now. But she's taken up almost every spot in my thoughts. I can't think of anything without winding up thinking about her__ in the end__…_

_"Don't tell anybody this, but I was planning to def__ect from Team Galactic. I don't__ know when exactly an opportunity will arise, but when it does, I'm breaking free. I may have to live as a fugitive for a while, but you're… uh… welcome to come… with me… if you want. I have money saved up."_

_"I don't care where we go," she replied, this response basically meaning yes. "I'll just be glad to be with you."_

_This comment didn't pass by me unnoticed. "You sound like you're lovesick," I joked, leaning in to stroke her cheek, which elicited a blush from her. "Is there any way I can make you feel better?"_

_"Yes, there is," she replied in a low seductive tone; well, as low as she could make her voice go anyway. "I want you with __me;__ I want my soul to be bonded with yours, in more ways than one."_

_I grasped her waist in my hands.__"Shall I take you, then?"_

_"Yes, take me, Commander Pluto," she gasped, arms reaching around and closing in around my neck. "Take me to the stars and beyond. Make me feel true bliss."_

_"With pleasure. And you can call me Terrence."_

_As her goldenrod orbs made contact with my sapphire eyes, her lips meshed perfectly with mine. After we reluctantly broke the kiss, I started to relieve her of her midnight blue tank top, and jogging shorts, and started to nibble at her neck, a passionate moan escaped from her lips, the sweetest music __I've __ever heard._

_

* * *

_

That particular happening was last night. But I was still thinking about it when all of my grunts, including Allison, were lined up in front of me in the Viewing Room, with a serious look on their faces. It occurred to me that after, or rather during this mission, I would have to abandon most of them. What kind of chaos would ensue?

But never mind that right now. Got to make that announcement. And sound convincing at the same time.

"Grunts, the reason I have ordered you here today is that Boss Cyrus is planning to go through with his ultimate plan. Tonight we will leave for Mt. Coronet in order to ensure that all of his dreams and wishes will be brought to fruition. I was ordered to bring my best grunts, but you are all equals in my eyes." _Well, except for the blonde bombshell standing in the very middle. She outranks all the rest of you combined. _"We will all leave before daybreak, so prepare for a three day journey. Be sure you prepare yourselves and get plenty of rest, for all of the work we have done will come down to what happens at Mt. Coronet. Understand?"

"Yes sir, Commander Pluto!" eighteen voices shouted in unison. But this time, I drowned out seventeen of them.

"Okay! Now what's the Galactic credo!?"

"Everything belongs to Team Galactic! Look beyond the world—space will become Team Galactic's!"

As for me, I don't even need space. As long as Allison is at my side, I feel like I already have everything.

Man, I'm so stuck on her, it's almost ridiculous.

* * *

**And that's the end of the second chapter. Quite a bit much in my opinion. So what do you think of the story so far? Any guesses about what's going to happen at Mt. Coronet? Reviews will be greatly appreciated. Thanks much! The next chapter will more than likely be up before the end of the week, so stay tuned!**


	3. Chapter 3: Pokemon and Personal Battles

**Author's Notes: Finally, an update! Writing in first-person is way harder than it looks. It's a bit of a hinderance to the big picture, but it also helps to clarify the goings on in an individual. I guess, I shouldn't keep you guys and girls waiting any longer, so here's Chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: I... do... not... own... Pokemon! Ohh! That was so hard to say...**

Chapter 3: Pokemon and Personal Battles

Did we really have to leave at 6:30 in the morning?

I wish I had gotten a bit more sleep to deal with today. I was tossing and turning in my bed last night because I was so worried about what might happen if and when I abandon the man that I'm walking right next to, Boss Cyrus. The time has to be right, just right.

"Pluto." Cyrus' voice startled me. "I appreciate your efforts in fulfilling the endeavors of Team Galactic. The time will not be far for when you will receive your greatest reward yet."

"Thank you, sir," I replied, forcing my voice to sound convincing. Good thing the other Commanders were nowhere in sight. Saturn had to stay behind to keep track of Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf. Mars and Jupiter were split from the rest of the group and were headed towards Solaceon Town. I was to accompany Boss Cyrus to Pastoria City. The plan was for everyone to meet near the western outskirts of Hearthome City. Boss Cyrus and I would have a longer way to go, but since we were split up, people around us would have no idea that something _that_ big was going to happen. At least, that's the way I saw it.

"I am curious to know, however, what your future plans are once we establish the permanent reign of Team Galactic over the entire world," Boss Cyrus said.

"Me?" I said, with a voice higher than I meant it to be. "Um, well… I would like to become a great Steel-type Trainer. I'd do a little adventuring around Sinnoh and other lands, maybe settle down and get married one day…" I looked over to Allison from the corner of my eye. She looked beautiful, even with that futuristic outfit on. I thought to myself, _What does she __not__ look good in_?

"Well, what about you, Boss Cyrus?" I asked, trying to shift the attention from me. "What are your plans once you become a deity in your new world?"

"I would totally destroy my enemies, and then I would establish a campaign that would bring about all of the planets under my direct control."

"Would you have humans and Pokémon inhabiting those planets?"

"Of course, Pluto."

"Then, you might want to start with Mars first. Its climate, although chilly, is the closest to matching Earth's. Venus is way too hot, like 800-900 degrees Fahrenheit, and it has a ton of pressure. It's going to take a lot, and I mean, a _lot_ of work to restructure that planet."

"I'll take it into consideration." Boss Cyrus stops and takes a look around. "Speaking of consideration, why have you considered taking all of your grunts, instead of the select few that were the best?"

"Three reasons," I replied. "One: All of these grunts have been instrumental, in some part, in helping you get this far. Two: I believe that once you become a deity, it will be etched into their memory that Team Galactic will not be one to be trifled with. Three: There's strength in numbers, so in case anything goes wrong, you know you will have decent support to back you up."

A few of the grunts nodded and shouted their approval and praise. As for Boss Cyrus, he seemed to contemplate those reasons, very carefully. "Humph. I see your point, and very well, too. I made an excellent choice when I made you a Commander in this organization."

I smirked, but not for the reason he probably thought. _We'll see about that once we make it to Mt. Coronet, _I thought to myself.

"So, what exactly is the plan from here?" I wondered.

"Heading south from Route 214, we will reach a hotel that I have booked rooms for on the Valor Lakefront. Saturn captured Uxie near there in an underground cavern underneath the lake. We will stay the night there. In the morning after breakfast, we will head through Pastoria City and continue nonstop to Hearthome City. Mars and Jupiter will have reservations for us there at the Solrock Inn."

"I see. I've stayed at the Lakefront Hotel once, by the way. They have some great food there, and it's nutritious as well. Also, they let you hold battles inside the restaurant, provided that the Pokémon you are using aren't too big. A common practice is for people to team up with whoever is at their table for two-on-two battles. I never got to team up with anyone, though; I didn't have a partner at the time."

Allison glanced my way when I said that and flashed a smile at me. I gave her a wink back. I bet we would be pretty unstoppable as a team, as long as we didn't run into any Fire-type Pokémon.

* * *

At around 7:00 p.m. we finally managed to reach the Valor Hotel. We would have gotten there sooner if one of the grunts hadn't stepped on a Graveler, which self-destructed shortly. That explosion caught the attention of other Graveler and a few Kricketune as well. There was a scuffle, and everyone had to battle, Allison sent out her assigned Bronzor, and I had sent out Skarmory to deal with the Kricketune. Even Boss Cyrus sent out a Crobat, but he only ordered one move: Supersonic. That caused confusion among the Graveler, who started to attack each other and set off a chain of self-destructs. …How annoying that was. 

But now that I think about it, it must be as a testament to his power. I mean, come on, using just one move to knock out a whole bunch of other Pokémon indirectly!? That's got to say something. If I have to battle him again, I'll be in for a rough time.

Anyway, once we got to the hotel, everybody was glad to stop and rest. I went straight down to the buffet and ordered a Gorgonzola burger with a side of garlic potatoes, while I treated Allison to chicken alfredo with tomato soup.

There was a couple of kids who came in from the beach who saw us after we finished eating and wanted a battle, which I thought was annoying because I could tell that they were nowhere near my level, but Allison coaxed me into it.

"Aw, can't we battle, Terrence? It'll be fun, trust me."

"It'll be more quick than fun, Allison," I said, putting down my fork. Then I motioned her to lean towards me with my hand, and I whispered in her ear, "Don't call be Terrence in public. People will catch on to us." Allison, realizing her mistake, quickly put her hands over her mouth, kinda like when like a kid realizes that something was said that shouldn't have come out of his or her mouth. I leaned back against the back of my seat and casually said, "Anyway, you know how strong I am. Do we have to?"

"Yes, we do!" she cried. "If you don't I'll have to battle them by myself." All of a sudden she glanced up at me with sparkling goldenrod orbs with her hands clasped together at her waist, the kind of pose infatuated girls gave that said something like, 'I want to be yours forever.' And then she said:

"You wouldn't expect your lovely girlfriend to battle handicapped, would you?"

"No, I would never let my girl get herself into such a situation." And I meant it. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I did?"

"Oh, Terrence, you're so sweet when you're not grouchy," said Allison. That particular statement was followed by a kiss on the cheek.

"Ewwwwww!" the two youngsters said.

"Oh, shut up!" I cried, looking at the two. "Once you two get a girlfriend, you'll understand. Anyway, you two ready for the butt-kicking of your pre-adolescent lives?"

They had better be.

* * *

"The following contest is a two-on-two Pokémon battle!" So the waiters were trained a little bit in judging as well, huh? They had a designated space set aside in the middle of the restaurant where other people could watch the frequent battles going on while enjoying their food. _I just know there's somebody trying to make a bet right now. Let's make… or break… somebody's wallet!_

"Trainers ready?" Four nods. "Okay, let's get to it!"

"Quagsire!"

"Marill!"

In unison: "Let's do it!"

As the two boys released their Pokémon with a couple of flashes of light, I was already contemplating my strategy as soon as they cried out their names.

"Bronzor, let's go!" cried Allison. I wondered why she didn't bring out Beautifly or Heracross. No sooner than I did, though, did we have a crowd of spectators, some of them being Team Galactic grunts. And then it hit me: grunts aren't supposed to have Pokémon other than the ones assigned to them.

"Go, Team Galactic!" one of the grunts shouted. "Show them who the bosses are around here!"

_But we don't even own the place,_ I thought to myself.

Focusing back on the two combatants in front of me: "Okay. Scizor, have at it!"

Another flash of light, and Scizor was standing with one pincer raised in the air, the other pointed towards the unlucky souls who would feel its power.

"You two can have the first move," I replied.

"Okay," one of the boys said. "Quagsire, Mud Bomb!"

"Marill, use Bubblebeam!" the other one cried.

In a second a flurry of bubbles and mud balls began to speed towards us.

"Bronzor… uh… Confusion! Stop those attacks!" shouted Allison. Bronzor focused its mind and sent the mud and bubbles into each other.

"Now Scizor, use X-Scissor! Slash that Quagsire!" I commanded. I felt that we had to get rid of Quagsire first because its ground-type moves could cause trouble for both of our Steel-type Pokémon. The confusion provided by the mud and bubbles would provide a great opportunity for a surprise attack.

"Quagsire, Protect!"

_PING!_

So, the kid saw it coming anyway. Scizor's X-Scissor attack failed to connect to Quagsire because of that protective field in front of it.

"Now, Mud Bomb!" he said.

"Jump!" I shouted. Scizor leapt and almost touched the ceiling before Quagsire could spit out more mud and hit in such close proximity. When it did though, the shots were headed straight for Allison's Bronzor!

"Marill, Bubblebeam that Scizor! Full power!" the other boy cried. Marill began charging up…

Meanwhile… "Bronzor, Gyro Ball! Aim for Marill!" She cried.

Bronzor turned sideways and started spinning rapidly. It made a straight line for Marill, its aim seemingly unfazed by the Mud Shot attacks that hit it.

Bronzor slammed into Marill, sending it flying. Marill, in the shock, released the Bubblebeam in all sorts of directions, hitting Quagsire as it did and knocked it down. Scizor, however, had the mind to hover in the air as I trained it to after an encounter with a trainer who had a Floatzel which used Whirlpool a lot. By doing so, he avoided all of the bubbles.

"Scizor, Metal Claw that Marill!" Scizor brought it's pincer down on Marill as if swatting a fly, slamming it down into Quagsire before it even had a chance to get up!

A two for one! Nice, if I say so myself.

The judge held out a red flag in the direction of the two boys and declared, "Quagsire and Marill are unable to battle. The winners are Scizor and Bronzor!"

Allison jumped into my arms, and I spun her around in celebration of victory. "We did it, we did it, we did it!" she cried.

"You know something, Allison? You and I are going to make a great team in the days to come."

"I know," she said. "As long as we don't run into any Fire-type Pokémon."

Meanwhile the two boys, long having since returned their Pokémon back into their balls, were slinking away with their heads down. I sort of felt a bit sorry for them for losing such a battle, even though I did warn them about the butt-kicking of their pre-adolescent lives. So I returned Scizor to its Pokeball started toward them to offer them a consolation prize.

But as soon as they noticed me coming their way, the two boys began to sprint at a mad dash, almost as if I was a wild Pokémon that was looking for lunch.

"Hey, hold up!" I cried.

"Leave us alone!" one of the boys cried.

"We don't wanna die!" cried the other.

_Die?_ "What are you talking about? I'm not going to kill you! Now stop running so I can give you guys something!"

"Hey, no running inside the hotel!" the police officer who was guarding the door cried. The two boys however, rushed past the police officer, almost causing him to lose his balance.

"Gah!... Hey, no running in –"

"Sorry, just a game of tag!" I cried as I rushed past.

We had arrived at the beach, but they still wouldn't stop running, but luckily — or unluckily, depending on whoever's viewpoint you look at — one of them tripped. But surprisingly, the other boy didn't stop running to help his friend. He only looked back and said, "Nice knowing you, Carlton!" Then he kept on running even faster than before.

"NOOOO! JUSTIN, DON'T LEAVE ME!!!" the boy named Carlton cried.

When I had gotten to him, I could see tears falling from his eyes. He looked up at me and said with a shaky voice. "I don't wanna die… please don't kill me…"

"Dude, snap _out_ of it! I'm not some Pokémon out to get a meal. I just wanted to give you this." I reached into my silver coat pocket and took out a handful of Sitrus berries that I was going to feed my Pokémon later on in the night. I tied them up in a small pouch and placed it into his hand.

"It's a handful of Sitrus berries for your Pokémon. I hope they enjoy them."

He looked stricken as if he were hit by a falling star. "You mean, you're not going to kill me?"

Now I was getting irritated because this boy_ still_ thought I had it out for him and his friend. "Oh, come _on_ now! What the hell would I do that for!? Is there somebody out trying to get you?"

sniff "No. But there's somebody out to get you."

"What are you talking about?"

"We know about the true Team Galactic. You guys killed our leader's parents. And now he's out for revenge against you guys!"

I looked down, mostly out of shame. I couldn't look him in the eyes, and be able to give him some consoling words. So that's why these two came to battle me; they wanted revenge for their friend. But then I thought, maybe I can do something for all the things I've done since joining this syndicate…

"Do you know what the person who killed your friend's parents actually looked like? I'll definitely make sure that person gets what he or she deserves."

"I don't know if I should tell you this; you might find my friend out."

"But I don't even know what your friend _looks_ like."

"…Yeah, you're right. Anyway, he said that it was some red-headed woman who looked to be in charge of something at Lake Verity, where his parents were vacationing when he turned on the news and found out they were dead! Ever since then, he's sworn to get his revenge. Me and Justin, we were sent out as scouts to see how strong you guys were. Out attacks didn't even faze you guys."

"Hmm… tell your friend that I'll make sure that vengeance is brought about on her." I can at least do something to ease the mind of this kid before I abandon Team Galactic.

"It's not just her."

"What do you mean, 'It's not just her?'"

"He's coming after all you guys. He says he doesn't have the luxury to pick and choose."

"If that's the case then, he had better come quick, but tell him to come after Saturday," I said with finality. That will be his most opportune moment to strike against anybody affiliated with Team Galactic. Oh, by the way, I hope for his sake that he's strong."

"He's the strongest one out of all of us. He can even use a bit of psychic power."

Psychic power, huh? This caught my attention as something to look for. "You should get going. I'm pretty sure you don't want your friend to think you were captured or anything."

"Thank you, sir," said Carlton. "I'm glad to know that not all of you are evil."

With that, he started running on his way back to Pastoria City.

I looked up at the clouds a little after he went out of sight. "Everybody is evil at some point. The only thing that matters is what you do to make up for it, if anything at all."

* * *

I had spent the rest of the day thinking about what that kid Carlton had said. If there really is somebody to get me, will he show any mercy at all? Probably not. I mean, I'm with the organization that killed his parents. Also, judging from the fact that he sent two children at me must signify that the avenger _himself_ is a kid. I know that if somebody had malicious intentions to my adpotive parents at Fallarbor Town, I would definitely take matters into my own hands with my Pokémon. Pokémon are seen as so many things: as friends, allies, tools, and even hindrances to some. I guess it all depends on the person's viewpoint and how much of it one can understand. I found myself in bed unable to sleep because these ideas were still running around in my head, so I thought about asking Allison for company, but the other grunts didn't know where she was. I scoured the entire hotel and still found no indication of her. "Maybe she went to the beach," I reasoned. So I headed out the front door, which lead out to the beach, and still found no sign of her. If she wasn't here either, then where could she be? I decided to keep looking out over the beach. What if she decided to run away right now? But that's impossible. She was recently enjoying herself with that battle a few hours ago. I kept scouring the beach until I came to a miniature plateau. 

"Hmm, maybe I can get a better view from up there." The ledges, however, were pretty rocky, and I'm not much of a climber. Realizing that, I grabbed one of my Pokeballs from my pocket and tossed it up.

"Steelix, help me out!"

A big flash of light materialized into the Steelix I caught at Iron Island.

"_Rwaaaar!!!"_

"Steelix, I'm looking for someone. Can you help me scale that cliff behind you? I may be able to get a better view from up there."

Steelix lowered its head so that I could climb on top of it. Once I was on, it turned to the cliff and started charging up the slanted but steep side of it.

Once we got to the top, I heard a scream. "AAAAAAHHHHH!"

"What the…" I glanced down and there was Allison, shaking in her fear. "AAAAHHHH! TERRENCE, HEEELLLP!"

"Allison, I'm glad I found you! I've been looking everywhere!" I hopped down right next to her.

"Y-Y-You mean, that Steelix is yours?" she cried.

"Yeah, it is. Oh, that's right you haven't been properly introduced to my Pokémon yet, have you? I guess now's as good a time as any." I beckoned Steelix over with my hand. "Allison, Steelix. Steelix, Allison."

"It's not going to bite, is it?"

"No Allison, it's not going to bite, as long as it knows you're friendly."

Allison shuffled up to Steelix very slowly. "H-Hi… Steelix."

Steelix let out a soft growl and brought its head down to Allison's level, where she rubbed it. Steelix closed its eyes, looking content. "It's so… metallic," she said.

"Steelix is taking a liking to you, I think. You're the first human besides me that it's on friendly terms with."

"Really?" said Allison.

"Really," I said. "I guess you should meet everybody else." With that, I took out my other three Pokeballs and tossed them up. "Everybody, come on out!"

Three flashes of light. Three materializations: an armored bird with yellow eyes and very sharp wings and beak, three magnets with an eye on each bound by magnetism, and a red bug standing erect with pincers for hands and light wings on its back.

I turned to Allison and Introduced them in reverse order. "These are my friends. Scizor, who you know about from our tag battle earlier…"

_"Scizor."_

"Magneton, my long range specialist…"

_"Ton! Bzzzzt."_

"And Skarmory, my very first Pokémon."

_"Skar, Skar!"_

"Guys, this is Allison, my girlfriend. In all seriousness, she is very important to me, understand?"

A cry from everyone. Except Steelix, who was …dozing?

"Steelix… Allison, you put it to sleep?"

"Um… sorry," she said.

"It's cool. It's nice that you can put such a large Pokémon to sleep like that. Well, anyway, that's my team. Why don't you introduce me to everyone on your side? There's nobody else up here, so you won't risk getting caught."

"Okay." She began to take out a Pokeball from each pocket and looked around to confirm what I had said about not getting caught.

Satisfied, she them began to hold the Pokeballs out in front of her. "Heracross, Beautifly, come on out!"

Two more flashes of light. Two more materializations: A blue stag beetle with an impressive horn that you wouldn't want chasing you, and a multicolored butterfly with a long tongue for penetrating flowers for nectar.

She held out her hand to Heracross first. "This is Heracross, my personal bodyguard." Heracross flexed its muscles and jolted its horn proudly. "And this is Beautifly, my first Pokémon."

_"Beauti-i-i-i!"_

"They both look like they're pretty well trained, Allison. …Wait, aren't you forgetting someone?"

"…Oh yeah. Bronzor, you come out too!"

One last flash of light that materialized into a hexagon-like steel plate with eyes and a mouth. However, it looked downtrodden as it appeared in front of everyone else.

"Hmm, Bronzor looks downtrodden, don't you think?" I asked Allison.

"I guess so," said Allison. "…I don't like how the other grunts treat their Pokémon, like they're something to be used for a certain purpose and nothing more. Pokémon are supposed to be our friends above all else. But I'm not really worthy to train this Bronzor."

"You sure fooled me," I said. "Especially with the way you handled it during our battle today."

"Oh, that was nothing, really. I learned by watching the other grunts during that scuffle today before we reached the hotel."

"But still, you were the one in control of Bronzor during our match," I pointed out. "But the way Team Galactic switches Pokémon from grunt to grunt really doesn't give them time to bond with their trainers. I think, as a result, their battle capabilities are lessened, almost as if they lack conviction of whom or what they are fighting for."

"Maybe Bronzor needs to find a trainer who will cherish it for all of its life. Once we escape this syndicate, I'll try very hard to find someone, but for now I'll take responsibility for it."

This Allison, she really is a caring person. I like her more and more each moment. I definitely will make sure she lives a good life once we're out of here. That's my word.

We sat down on the high plateau, looking at out Pokémon frolicking amongst each other. Heracross, Beautifly, and Scizor were sharing some honey from a jar in Allison's bag; Magneton and Bronzor were doing something similar to communicating, and Skarmory was roosting on top of Steelix's head. Steelix wasn't bothered, for it was still asleep.

After about an hour, we decided to return the Pokémon back to their balls so that we could go to our rooms and get some shuteye. I had Skarmory fly us down from the plateau because I didn't want to awaken Steelix. It's not many Pokémon that can sleep with a bird on top of their head, you know.

I walked Allison to her private residence. We stopped at the door and shared one last passionate kiss goodnight.

"I'll see you at breakfast, okay Allison?"

"All right, Terrence. Have a good night."

"Same to you, beautiful."

She began to blush a bit and chuckled, and made her way through the door. After that was done, I made my way back to the quarters where I was sleeping, all the while thinking about the kinds of adventure that awaited me after Mt. Coronet.

* * *

**And that's the end of that chapter. Next chapter: Terrence and Allison reach Mt. Coronet at last! The duo will see to it that Cyrus' dreams of domination shall not be fufliied... hopefully with a little bit of luck, they'll succeed! Tune in next chapter! And review! Reviews are a big help!**


	4. Chapter 4: Two Broken Promises

**Author's Note: Dude! It's been _forever _since I updated, it seems. Well, yeah, there's been a lot going on: I got sick, I had to go to school, spring break came, and some more stuff I can't remember right now. But all the while I've been writing this chapter, I've had plenty of inspiration for later chapters.**

**It's going to get good, especially after this chapter! So use the three R's: Relax, Read, Review! On to Chapter 4!**

**Oops! Forgot the Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. However, I am the owner of a Level 55 Tauros on my Pearl version. Giga Impact FTW!**

* * *

Chapter 4: Two Broken Promises

"And then the guy told me that he got his clock cleaned after snatching the kid's Pokedex! How _ridiculous_!"

Yes, I'm sure.

Cyrus and I had just gotten to the Solrock Inn after trudging through the marshy routes leading to Hearthome City. It seems like everything was normal upon our arrival. Grunts were busy preparing for the next day, and Jupiter was listening to a (once again) frustrated Mars, who was complaining about one of her grunts stealing a Pokedex from a kid when we have a whole plethora of information on Pokemon.

Mars. She was the one who captured Mespirit at Lake Verity near Twinleaf Town. I remembered Carlton's words from the Valor Hotel…

"_He said that it was some red-headed woman who looked to be in charge of something at Lake Verity, where his parents were vacationing when he turned on the news and found out they were dead! Ever since then, he's sworn to get his revenge."_

You couldn't mistake red hair like hers anywhere.

That kid has some guts to stand up to Team Galactic. I respect that. I wonder if he would still avenge his parents' deaths if he didn't have psychic powers. How _did _he get psychic powers anyway? There aren't that many psychics in the Sinnoh region as far as I know.

But don't you worry, kid. I'll be sure to get Mars for you. Nothing much, though… if you really are as strong as your friend claims, I'll leave the rest to you.

"I swear, if any one of those grunts messes up anything at Mt. Coronet, I swear I'll switch my entire division with another Commander." Mars was waving her hands around frantically as she spoke. "I know I'm not doing anything wrong in training these guys, it's just… aarrgh!"

"'It's just… aarrgh!' …what?" I asked, making my way towards the two women while mimicking Mars.

"Well, Mars claims that her grunts suck," Jupiter informed me.

"Again?" I asked Mars, exasperated.

"Yes, again! I'm beginning to get a mind to ask the boss for better recruits…"

"Maybe you don't have to, Mars," I replied. "How about you switch up the way you command?"

"And how would I be able to do that?"

"Well, maybe you could be a little bit nicer to them, you know." A red-hot glare. "I don't mean you should completely shower them with affection. Just… let them know they are appreciated every now and then. Besides, everybody gets clueless and makes mistakes at some point. Right, Jupiter?"

"Yea, he's right, Mars. Don't get that worked up. People will work harder for you if you give them a good benevolent reason to." I didn't show it, but I was in shock. Jupiter hardly ever gave praise to her grunts… but then I started to think about the times I heard her in the Nap Room in Headquarters. _Well, maybe one at least,_ I thought to myself.

"I just don't see how I can be nice when these grunts give me absolutely no reason to."

"Don't worry, Mars," I assured her, "you'll definitely think of something."

Just then, one of the grunts came through running on the red carpet in the hallway which we were having our discussion in. He stopped in front of Mars and made a deep bow.

"The radiant Commander Mars," he said. I noticed he was forcing his voice to go deeper than usual. "Boss Cyrus wishes to meet with you at eight o'clock to discuss further plans for Mt. Coronet."

"Alright … Why are you acting so weird?"

"Is it really weird to show a gracious lady such as yourself gratitude and appreciation?" Wait a minute. Mars, gracious?

"Well, I appreciate the comment, um… Devin, was it?"

"It's Damion." His voice went back up an octave to normal.

"Well, Damion, could I ask you to do me a favor?"

"Ask and it shall be done, my lady." The deepened voice again. I smirked in amusement at how the little scene was playing out.

"Straighten up, for starters." Damion quickly returned to an upright position. "And accompany me to dinner; I could use more comments like the ones you're giving me right now."

"Done." He held out his arm, and Mars hooked her arm with his.

"Well, Jupiter and Pluto, I'll probably talk to you two later. So long!" And as she and Damion left, she chanced one last glance back at us. I gave her thumbs up, and Jupiter winked. Mars must have been relieved, because she smiled at us, and then began to pay attention back to Damion. "So what do you think of me as a Commander…?"

When Mars and her companion stepped in the elevator and the doors closed, I asked Jupiter, "Do you think Mars is cut out for romance?"

"I really don't know. As long as I've known her, she never was involved in romantic pursuits," she explained. "But hopefully that will turn around. She probably needs it more than anybody now."

"I suppose so," I said. We were walking down the hallway, and I was thinking about the romance I shared with Allison. I figured it was something like a roller coaster, not in the sense that it was going up and down and threw us for a loop every once in a while, but in the sense of speed. It was going way fast, kind of like I assumed Jupiter's relationship was. Wonder how they're doing together? Maybe I'll ask.

"Hey, speaking of romantic pursuits, how are things going between you and your boyfriend?"

Jupiter looked at me in shock. "How did you know I used to have a boyfriend? I told Mars not to tell anybody."

"Nobody told me anything. When I was on patrol in HQ, I sa… heard you getting busy in the Nap Room a few times. Don't worry, I didn't tell anybody, either. …Wait a minute; you said you _used_ to have one?"

"Yeah. I was going with this one guy who transferred from Saturn's division. It was fun while it lasted. We only broke up like a week ago, because neither one of us was ready to commit to a serious relationship."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is so." She started to wonder, and then, "Are you asking me this because you want advice for you and your girlfriend?"

_Wait a minute, she knows!? _I didn't want to be for certain that she knew, so I decided to play it off. "What makes you think I have a girlfriend?"

"Because you very bad at hiding stuff," Jupiter boasted. "But I have to admit, you and – what was her name, Alice…?"

"Allison," I corrected.

"Allison… Anyway, you two make a good looking couple. I just never knew that guys with spiky silver hair would be so popular with the ladies. Why, if you weren't with Allison, I would probably be your girlfriend by now."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Wow… I had no idea that she was into me, too. I was scared that if I had somehow managed to tell her before I met Allison, she would run and tell everybody and they would start laughing at me or something.

But now that I think about it, I might as well tell her about I how I used to feel for her, since I won't be around much longer anyway. It's not like I'm asking her to be with me or anything, it's just that if you have a chance to tell somebody something, you should do it before it's too late. At the very least, I'll be getting it out of the way. There's nothing to lose.

"You know, Jupiter, I… uh… really had a crush on you for the longest time right now. Ever since I laid eyes on you on that first day, I thought that you were just so beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I'm way into Allison right now, but I had you on my mind before now."

"Wow… I had no idea. So why didn't you just come out and tell me? I mean, we're both Commanders here," she said as she hit the "Up" button next to an elevator we stopped in front of.

"I know, but I wasn't back then. Usually when people tell someone they like that they have a crush on them, you would expect the other person to laugh, or just outright crush you or something. They'll probably never look at you the same way again, regardless of how it turns out," I explained as we heard a ding, signaling that the elevator had reached our floor.

"So that's what has been keeping you from telling me? Because you thought I would never see you the same way afterwards?"

"That… and… some more personal stuff," I replied as we stepped inside and the doors closed.

I looked over at Jupiter, and she smiled sweetly at me. "I'm going to do something that I really shouldn't be doing, but I feel a little obliged to give you what you want." I looked straight at her in shock. "No, not like _that_," she reassured me. "All I want you to do is close your eyes…"

And so I did. And the very next second, I could feel a pair of long, slender arms wrapped around me along with soft, luscious lips pressing down on my own. I sort of expected something like this coming, but never so intense. Shocked, my eyes shot open and so did my lips, and her tongue penetrated inside of my mouth.

Right then, I was stuck in the middle of a crisis. _Dude, she's kissing you. Kiss her back._

_But I can't kiss her back._

_Come on, you know you want to._

_If I kiss her back, it'll show that I love Jupiter more than Allison, which is not true._

_She knows you have a girlfriend, and yet she's still doing this._

_I know, but what would Allison thi-- Hey, she broke it off…_

She stepped back with a smile on her face. "So, how did you like it?"

"I… uh, like… it was… wait… uh… it was… good…"

_Say what you feel!_

"But I want you to know… I love Allison. The kiss we just shared… doesn't mean that I'll just dump her to be with you."

"Oh, you read too much into it," said Jupiter with an understanding look. "I thought it was natural for two people who like each other to kiss. It doesn't literally mean a relationship or anything. Tell you what; it'll be just between you and me, ok?"

"Ok. That makes it a lot better," I sighed.

"Good!" She checked her watch, and then hit the elevator button for the 6th floor. "It's about 7:30 right now, so I'm gonna go and take a shower before I see Boss Cyrus." Then she looked at me with a lustrous intent in her eyes. "Want to join me?" she asked in a matching devilish voice.

"Ah!... I… can't…"

"Ha ha! Looks like you can't take teasing. Ah, well. Girls like a guy who can loosen up. That's my advice to you. You work on that, and I'll be seeing you later Pluto." And then the elevator doors opened, and I watched Jupiter make her stroll through the hallway of the 6th floor before the elevator doors closed.

* * *

"Hey Allison, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything, Terrence."

Before I invited Allison to the balcony of my room, I lay on my bed for a while replaying the conversation I had with Jupiter over in my head.

The discussion of her past relationship, which led me to re-evaluate my own.

The fact that she knew that Allison and I were a couple. How many other people knew? Probably my entire division, along with Mars and Saturn and maybe even Cyrus. Not that it matters to me how many people know, as long as they don't try to split us apart…

The revelation of how we liked each other, leading to her kissing me in the elevator. I couldn't tell Allison that; she would blow it out of proportion. And I really do like Allison, too. That why I didn't put any effort into that kiss I shared with Jupiter.

Back to the present. I looked over at Allison and asked her in a serious tone, "How do you think our relationship is progressing?"

She looked back with a glum expression on her face. "What's the matter, Terrence? Am I doing something wrong?"

"No, it's not you," I smiled. "I… how do I say this… do you think we're going a bit too… uh… fast for our relationship?"

"You think so? …Now that I think about it, we have been going pretty quickly about things. I mean, we've only been together for three days, and we already hit… second base, I think. Maybe third."

"Allison, I would love to hit second and third base with you… over and over and over again," I chuckled. "But maybe we should slow down and examine first base a bit more."

Allison tilted her head to the side, giving me a quizzical look.

"Meaning… I don't want us to go _too_ fast and let this relationship crash and burn, you know? Relationships aren't just about loving people; they're also about loving things _about_ people. We should take a little bit of our time and find out more about each other's likes and dislikes."

"…I understand, but what caused you to bring this up all of a sudden?" she inquired.

"I had a conversation with someone who I believe went too fast in her relationship. They didn't last because neither one of them was ready for a serious relationship. I think it was due to the fact that they knew too little about each other before they started dating. I just… don't want it to be the same way with us… wait, why are you crying?"

She wiped crystal-clear tears from her eyes. "Because it shows… you really do care…"

"Of course I do," I replied, drawing her into a tight hug. "I want to know more about you, Allison—beautiful and radiant bug-type Pokémon trainer of Sinnoh!"

"And I want to know more about you, Terrence— my knight of shining armor-clad Pokémon from Hoenn! Once we escape the syndicate, we'll have so much time together!" She paused for a minute and then said…

"Speaking of which, how _are_ we going to escape at Mt. Coronet?"

"Oh, man, you ask me now? I was going to just think of something right before Cyrus starts summoning the legendaries."

"Maybe we should think of something now," she said with a look of worry. "There will be a whole bunch of grunts standing in our way if we decide to charge them head on."

"Yeah, and I don't really want to kill anyone. That's not me. I'd rather have some way to disable them, though…"

After two minutes of thought…

"How about my Beautifly? It knows Stun Spore and it's supposed to be potent, too."

"Hmm, that's good. Think we can find a way to use it and catch them off-guard? I wouldn't want them to see it coming and launch a counter-attack…"

* * *

Dude, I had no idea that the top of Mt. Coronet was covered in snow year-round. Mars, Jupiter, Allison and the rest of the Grunts seemed to be taking it pretty well, despite the fact that they were shivering. Some Grunts huddled closer to others for warmth as we trudged our way uphill through the foot-deep snow.

Only Boss Cyrus didn't mind the cold. Maybe it was the prize of immortality that caused him to keep marching onward, because the snow didn't even seem to faze him in the least. Once we came up a ways, we saw a cavern set up with lights. …Wait a minute, lights? Lights in a cave disturb Pokemon that live in it. Either Boss Cyrus set this up in advance, or somebody else was set up here, and I highly doubt the latter.

We reached the cave, went inside and walked all the way to another opening. Boss Cyrus addressed us:

"Here is where we make—no, remake history! Up ahead is the Spear Pillar. It is rumored that here, Dialga and Palkia ascended into the heavens soon after the world was created. Now, in a few moments, I will bring them back to this dimension, and through them create the world that I—that _we_ have toiled long and hard for!"

A crowd of cheers surrounded Boss Cyrus.

"However, there are some who would seem fit to stop the coming of this new era. Mars, Jupiter, disperse your grunts all around the base of Mt. Coronet and make sure they eliminate all opposition. Pluto, you and your grunts will disperse all around this cave in the unlikely event that our first defenses become breached. You yourself will become the last line of defense. In the even more unlikely event that you meet your demise, Mars and Jupiter will avenge you together. They will be my personal bodyguards from here on out."

"Wait, you mean I can't see your summoning?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, you cannot. I am relying on you to defend this opening for me."

"Ah… OK," I replied reluctantly.

Mars and Jupiter walked out of the opening on either side of Cyrus. I waited until I was sure they were out of earshot for a few minutes.

"Hey, Team Galactic! Gather around!" I cried. Within a minute I had seventeen grunts facing me in a semicircle looking at me with my back towards the opening that Boss Cyrus went out of. Allison, as always, was at my right hand side.

_I hope I know what I'm doing,_ I thought.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that I enjoyed working with every single one of you. But as far as I can tell, there may be some of you who don't feel that loyal to Team Galactic for some reason. What I want to do is hear about some of your concerns and give you an option. Before I actually give you the option, though, I want to know what you guys think. Ok, I'm all ears."

Silence. I swear you could hear a humming sound that comes with so much silence even though there was snow blowing outside and a little water dripping in the illuminated cavern. Silence is golden, but not when there are so many people.

"Oh, come on now! Nothing?"

Nothing.

I couldn't take it anymore. "Alright, since nobody is willing to express concerns, I have one I want to address to all of you.

"You know that Boss Cyrus is serious about summoning Dialga and Palkia, the two legendary Pokemon that legend says created this region, right?" This was confirmed by various reactions:

"Is he really trying to do that?"

"Come on, man, what is he really trying to do?"

"Our boss is trying the impossible!"

"If he succeeds, _he'll_ be legendary!"

More murmurs here and there, and I waved my hand in the air, signaling for silence. "It seems that we have mixed opinions about this. You guys want to know mine?"

Several heads nodded, urging me to go on.

"Personally… I don't approve of it at all. When it comes to legendary Pokemon, people who mess with them eventually wind up suffering a price or making things worse. Dialga and Palkia are masters of time and space. Did you hear me? _Time and space._ If Boss Cyrus messes up just one tiny detail, time and space will be warped forever. We may not have an existence anymore."

"If you don't like it so much, why don't you tell him yourself? We grunts can't do anything," one grunt said. He was holding a boom box that I didn't notice before.

"You know what? I'm going to do more than just tell him. I'm going to put a stop to it."

Same guy: "Are you for real?"

"He's definitely for real," Allison spoke up. "I'm going with him, too."

"You really think you can defeat our boss? _Your _boss?" cried one grunt in her disbelief. "I always knew that Boss Cyrus was destined for great things, but now you're going to destroy his biggest endeavor get, without a thought for the consequences!" She stepped forward, holding a Pokeball in her hand. "I'm going to bring you to your senses."

"I'm only going to say this once. Don't get in my way," I warned.

"No, you get out of Boss Cyrus' way!"

"Janice…" another grunt said, stepping forward. "Why don't you let Commander Pluto fight Cyrus? I mean, it's his decision."

"Don't tell me what I should be letting someone do, Charlie! You think he can just battle Cyrus and stay a Commander?"

"I think if—no, _when _he beats Cyrus, he should run away from this syndicate, just like I've been wanting to. You think being forced to join after that Eterna City incident was what I wanted!? Hell no! I've been looking for an excuse to run away, and now that my actual Commander is openly saying it, I'm with him."

"You want to stop me from stopping him? Let's take it outside in the snow. If you win, you can run away, right then and there, and nobody here will say anything. If you lose…"

"I won't lose..."

"_If you lose,"_ she interrupted with extreme vigor, "Then I'll have Cyrus execute you and I'll be there to watch. And you can't run away once you lose, either."

"Sounds fair," said the guy named Charlie. "Ladies first."

"Chivalry will get you nowhere with me, mister," shouted the woman named Janice as she walked in front of him. All of the other grunts followed behind Charlie wanting to see the outcome of the battle.

"Allison, now's the time!" I cried.

"I know. We have to hurry," she responded. And so the two of us went to the opening at the very end of the cave, only to step out onto…

…The Spear Pillar. It was aptly named because there were columns of granite jutting out of the ground with the ends pointed like spears. …Well, some of them, anyway. Most of the columns were toppled over, and some that were still erect were missing their pointed ends. Who made this place, and what for?

Certainly not the reason that Cyrus was here, I know. He was far away, standing on what seemed to be a large square tile with a triangle etched inside of it. In his hands he was holding a chain of interwoven red and blue links. He seemed to be chanting, and the next thing I knew the clouds in the sky disappeared, and was suddenly replaced with this multicolored light that seemed to cover the entire sky. Maybe the whole region…

I have got to stop him, now! But how would I be able to do that? I didn't have time to think on it, as Mars and Jupiter spotted me and came walking in my direction.

"So, Pluto and Allison. About time you showed up." Mars said indignantly. "I assume your grunts are distracted or were laid to waste, so you could come up here and defeat Cyrus on your own."

_They _knew_?! Jupiter was right; I really am very bad at hiding things._"Well, it doesn't matter if you know, Mars; I'm still going to stop him from summoning those legendaries. "

"You can stop him, Pluto. Just let us annihilate you first," mocked Jupiter, reaching for a Pokeball on her belt.

"Please, put your Pokeballs away!" cried Allison.

"And why should we do that, little missy?" hissed Mars.

Allison stepped right up to the two Commanders and spun around with a smirk on her face.

"…Because I'm the one who's going to annihilate him!"

"Say what! Allison, what the hell…?"

"You mean, you never saw this coming?" cried Allison. "I guess love really is blind. No, wait… I think it would be better to say that love is something that _can_ blind. In your passion for me, you never thought once about why I fell for you so hard and so fast. Now you're the one who's going to fall hard and fast… face-down on the floor!"

_She betrayed me… This little... She betrayed me! What the hell for!? _I could feel so many emotions flow through me: disbelief, followed by grief, which gave way to sadness, and that turned to anger. I looked up, and saw Allison staring at me with a cold luster in her eyes. Seeing Jupiter and Mars grinning at how my plan backfired only fed the fuel for my anger.

"Allison," I started, my voice quivering. "You probably don't care what I think right now. I'm becoming a traitor to Team Galactic, and you became a traitor to my heart. Do you really care for Team Galactic that much that you would get so cozy with me out of deception?" She opened her mouth…

"Wait a minute; don't even answer that damn question!" I interrupted, with a tear coming to my eye. "This may be karma coming back to get me… I'll admit it came sooner than I expected… but not even you will keep me from my freedom, you hear me!? I'll plow through you, those demons behind you, and the Boss himself before I let you take me down."

"What are you going to do, kill me? You don't even have the guts. You said so yourself!"

"A person doesn't have to kill someone in order to destroy them. You destroyed me by breaking my heart, but I'm not dead yet! Crimes of the heart must not be forgiven, Allison!" I shouted, while drawing my Pokeball, the one that contained Skarmory in it, pressing the button for enlargement. "Prepare yourself for oblivion!"

I seriously thought I could trust you, Allison.

That's the first—and last—time I willingly give my heart up for love.

* * *

**Oh! Heartbreak! Pluto wasn't expecting that! He's still showing determination to stop Cyrus, but can he get past his biggest obstacle... Allison, the girl who just broke his heart? And if he does, then what?**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter of Escape from Team Galactic! It's coming soon!**


	5. Chapter 5: Breakup! Makeup! Wake Up!

**Author's Note: Finally, Chapter 5 is up! This would've been up sooner, if I didn't have a test every other day. Well, it _seems_ like every other day to me. I guess you can think of this chapter as a prelude to the upcoming one. **

**Okay: Remember to use the three R's: Relax, Read, and Review! Do it for the story!**

**Disclaimer: I own Pokemon.**

**...Psyche! Just kidding. I really wish I could say that though... so don't sue.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Breakup! Makeup! Shakeup! Wake Up!

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Allison… why?

After all the trouble we went through making plans to escape this syndicate, and at the moment of truth, you turn your back on me. Well, right now your back is facing Mars and Jupiter; your hand grips a Pokéball. You look ready to attack me. I have to be ready myself. I'll recover later.

There's no time to lose, even though I've lost my heart, broken to a hundred thousand pieces. I'll make you pay, Allison. I swear it!

"SKARMORY-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y!" I scream in anger at I hurl the Pokéball at Allison. It never reaches her, but a flash of light comes forward from it, materializing to the familiar armor-clad bird I've called friend since my journey began. Skarmory flies forward with wings spread out and makes a u-turn after Jupiter and Mars duck, but Allison doesn't move, even as a strand of fabric from a sleeve of her outfit floats away in the wind, grazed by Skarmory's left wing. Skarmory makes its way back to me, landing right in front of me.

"Skarmory," I explain. "You see Allison, right? She turned her back on me." Skarmory looks back questionably. "Yes, I know. I still can't believe it myself. We are going to have to battle her now. Let's make sure she regrets toying with peoples' hearts!"

"SKAR!" he cries in a low voice, jutting its beak towards Allison in a menacing motion.

"Terrence, I really didn't want to do this to you. But maybe it's time I've given you a dose of reality: Love doesn't come as easy as most people think. You weren't expecting me to do something like this, were you?" I started to speak…

"Wait a minute, don't even answer that question!" Allison interrupted. Dude! That was the line I just used on her! "You don't have to answer; your face tells me all that I need to know. If you don't straighten up you'll be annihilated."

"I don't need you to tell me what I should do, Allison! Why are you doing this, anyway? Was it because I said I wanted to take it a little bit slower? If you thought there was anything wrong with our relationship, you should've told me. Now, I have to get over a new obstacle in the way before the world ceases to exist."

"But that's the thing; can you do it?"

"…I don't want to, because it's going to hurt me a lot in the end. Not like you care; you're already hurt me by our breakup. But right now there's no other choice. Send out your Pokémon, Allison; I've had enough of your stall tactic."

Allison grinned. "Ok, if you want to rush to your death so fast, don't let me stop you. Beautifly, let's go!"

She hurled her Pokéball, and her flash of light materialized into the Beautifly that _was_ the key to our plans of taking care of Mars and Jupiter.

"Um, Missy?" said Mars with an annoyed look. "Just where did you get that Beautifly from? You know you're not supposed to have it. It's not standard issue."

"I caught it last night outside of Hearthome City." I knew that was a lie. Beautifly was her first Pokémon; she's had it for over a year and a half. But I'm not going to say anything. "But never mind why I have it. Right now. I'm going to defeat Terrence and put him in a world of misery!"

"I'd like to see you try, Allison!" I cried. "Mars, Jupiter, I'll get to you two in a minute. So stay where you are; this won't take long. You have my word on that. Skarmory! Use Steel Wing on Beautifly!"

Skarmory lifted from the ground into the multi-colored sky. In the distance I could see the mere outlines of Dialga and Palkia beginning to form. _Focus on the battle! _I thought to myself.

Skarmory make a vertical loop and glided forward at a great speed to slash Beautifly with its steel wings spread wide. The attack didn't connect because Skarmory's altitude was a bit high.

Allison took the opportunity to launch her own attack. "Beautifly! Silver Wind!"

As Skarmory made its way back to try and hit Beautifly again, Beautifly unleashed its Silver Wind attack: a powerful gust attack with powdery scales mixed in with the wind, giving the illusion of a silver color. Skarmory, caught off guard by the sudden whirlwind, took the attack full force and tumbled to the ground in front of Allison and Beautifly. Afterwards, Beautifly fluttered to a new position in front of me with its back turned.

So that was Beautifly's attack pattern: attack, then move so it has a new angle to launch attacks. Also, by hovering in front of me, Skarmory couldn't try any speedy attacks, because _I_ might get hit if it dodges again.

Skarmory raised itself to a standing position right in front of Allison.

Dude! If Skarmory is in front of Allison, Beautifly can't try a direct attack either! To avoid hitting Allison, Beautifly would have to maneuver to the side, breaking the stalemate that I believe she doesn't know about. In the meantime, I can think up a better strategy…

"Terrence! You better pay close attention to me now!"

"And why should I do that, Allison?"

"Because this is the one chance that I triumph over you!"

And then she mouthed: _"I'm trying to help you!"_

At least that's that I thought she was trying to say. I focused my eyes to make out the voiceless words she was trying to say. I tilted my head to the side questionably, not understanding why she said what she did.

"_Follow my lead. I'll explain when we take care of Mars and Jupiter."_

She openly betrayed me, and now she expects me to trust her again?

…Dude, does she really look like she's about to cry? Is this a mistake on her part? Now I'm really interested in knowing what's on her mind.

I wanted to mouth some words back at her, but Mars and Jupiter were right behind Allison. They'll figure out it was a setup.

I smiled at her. "Well, don't just stand there. Are you going to do something or what?"

She smiled back. "Beautifly, Stun Spore! Go for it!" she yelled with a cracked voice.

Beautifly released lots of yellow dust towards Skarmory… and Allison, who was right behind it.

"_Tell Skarmory to move!"_ she mouthed.

"Skarmory, fly up and avoid it!" I commanded.

Skarmory once again lifted itself into the air. Now the dusty spores were headed straight for Allison.

"Perfect!" she cried. "Now… Whirlwind!"

"What the hell…!"

Beautifly was flapping its wings furiously, blowing the Stun Spore towards Allison even faster. At the last second, Allison did a cartwheel to the right—well, her left—and the dust scattered over the two Commanders behind her, who were caught in the pollen storm before they even realized it.

When the dust cleared, Jupiter and Mars were frozen in place, due to the Stun Spore. Just like the plan was supposed to work out from the beginning!

"Allison, you idiot!" yelled Jupiter. "Why the hell did you have to send Stun Spore in our direction?"

"Because that's what I wanted to do," said Allison with a look of triumph. "And now, we have to take care of Boss Cyrus. But you two won't be able to see it. Beautifly, good job! Now, return!" Beautifly disappeared into its Pokéball with a flash of red light. A second later, I saw Allison knock Jupiter's lights out with a well-placed punch between the eyes. It must have been powerful, because she was shaking her hand to dull the pain afterwards.

"Skarmory, you're not hurt too badly, are you?" Skarmory shook its head at me. "That's a relief! I may need you in the upcoming battle, but I'll let you rest for now. Return!" And with a flash of red light, Skarmory returned back into its Pokéball.

That only left me and Mars. "You think you're so tough, taking us down with such sneaky tactics. I hope Boss Cyrus does you in good! He'll avenge us, you wait and see!"

"Mars, we had to do it. It would've been too much trouble to battle you and Jupiter and _then_ try to take on Boss Cyrus himself."

"So, you really hate Team Galactic that much, huh?" she asked.

"Not really," I confessed.

"Then why…"

"Because I have to stop Cyrus from destroying the world because of his foolish endeavor to reach a deity-like status. I don't have time to explain all of my reasons right now, so all I will say is that I hope you'll forgive me, for you'll see I'm right in the end. Allison! Would you please knock out Mars for me? I really don't like hitting females."

Allison walked over and was about to give Mars the same treatment she gave to Jupiter a minute ago. But just as she was about to punch Mars' lights out…

"Wait!" I cried. "There's something else I need to know from you, Mars."

"And what would _that_ be?"

"You remember Lake Verity, right? When you had to capture Mespirit from the bottom of the lake?" She nodded. "I had a source that told me that you encountered a couple of people who were vacationing there…"

"You want to know more about them?" she asked.

"Yeah. First of all, are they dead?"

"What kind of a question is that? Our boss forbids killing unless absolutely..."

"Mars, running short on time here," I said in an annoyed sing-song voice. "Are they dead? Yes or no?"

"…No. Those two lovebirds tried to battle my entire division but were quickly overwhelmed. I couldn't let them get away and alert the police, so I offered them two choices. Either they joined Team Galactic or they would face a watery grave in that lake. They both joined my division without hesitation, saying, "As long as our son is okay, everything is going to be all right."

So, the kid's parents are still alive. Won't he be happy to hear that! But, how will I be able to reach him?

"That son you mentioned… You do know he's getting stronger to avenge his parents' capture, right?"

"Let him come try to rescue his parents. What can a kid do?" Mars scoffed.

"A lot more than you think." I decided to leave off the fact that the kid was psychic, so they would be in for a little surprise when he attacked. I turned to Allison and said, "Okay, you can go ahead."

**BAM!**

Allison had to shake her hand again.

"Allison, I have to go and try to bring Boss Cyrus back to his senses," I explained. "But I really want to know… Why did you turn on me like that?"

"When I had gotten face-to-face with Mars and Jupiter, I noticed they still had their Pokéballs in their hands. They could've easily taken them and released their Pokémon before Beautifly had a chance to act when it came out. So I thought that maybe I should have a mock battle against you to set them up a bit more."

"Well, you didn't make it _seem _like a mock battle. Threatening me with annihilation? That's what that guy over there is supposed to do." I pointed to Boss Cyrus holding his chain in the air, still chanting. The outlines of the two large legendaries were beginning to become more distinct. "But anyway, if this was another set-up, you should've mouthed some words _before_ we started battling."

"I know," she cried, a tear falling down on her face. "When you said all of those things to me, it seemed like you really did hate me. Terrence, I just want you to know that I still love you, even if it's only been a few days since we first met. sniff I would never, ever betray you as long as you don't do the same… Please forgive me!" She dropped to her knees and started hugging my legs, sobbing uncontrollably.

I knelt down so that we were on the same level, and then I hugged her ever so tightly to my chest. "Allison… I promise that as long as we both live, I will stay faithful to you always. Of course, that was the plan from the very beginning. Remember earlier when you said that love doesn't come as easy as most people think? I think it came easy to me… to _us_. Just stay by my side, and love me as much as I love you. Just be true to me. That's all I ask for."

"Terrence… you don't even have to ask for that." Allison said.

"So… I guess this means that we're back together, huh?" I smiled.

"Forever and a hundred days," she smiled back.

I wiped her tears from her eyes with the back of my hand. "Come here," I said. She came closer, and she instantly pulled me into a passionate kiss. I was surprised by the sudden action that my mouth opened slightly, and she stuck her tongue inside. But unlike yesterday, I was determined to put everything I had into it, unlike the one I had with Jupiter yesterday. I could tell that Allison was putting the same effort into our kiss as I did. I felt our tongues would dance in each other's mouths forever, and I was thinking:

_Jupiter, I would've gone out with you in a heartbeat, but there's one problem…_

_You're not Allison._

"Ha ha ha! It's working! It's actually working!" More maniacal laughter coming from Cyrus' direction.

…Oh, yeah. I have to stop Cyrus from unleashing destruction upon the world. Damn it! Don't you just hate it when something good is happening to you and you get pulled away from it? …Yeah, that's how I was feeling.

I reluctantly broke away from Allison's tender lips and whispered, "To be continued. Now come on!" I grabbed Allison's hand and proceeded to run towards Cyrus, who now has his eyes open and a big grin plastered on his face.

I stopped a few feet in front of him. "So, Pluto, I see that you've gotten past Mars and Jupiter. But it looks like you're a bit too late."

"I couldn't have gotten past them alone. My girlfriend deserves most of the credit." I said.

"Boss Cyrus!" cried Allison. "You have to stop this nonsense!"

"No, it is you two who have to stop this nonsense idea of stopping me from creating the world that I desire! Do you know how long I've waited for this day to come?"

"No, I don't know how long, and frankly, I don't care," I said. "All I know is that bad things happen when you try to control legendary Pokémon. I, for one, don't want the world to be destroyed."

"But the world _won't_ be destroyed," Cyrus countered. "It will simply be... reformed to my liking."

"Not if I have anything to say about it. I'll do whatever it takes to stop you… even if I have to fight the legendaries myself!"

…I _really_ shouldn't have said that.

At that very moment, two bright flashes of light suddenly shone on either side of Boss Cyrus. I had to shield my eyes with my arm to avoid becoming blind. When the light dissipated, I was shocked by what I saw.

Dialga was on Cyrus' left side.

Palkia was on his right side.

The legendaries were actually here, in the flesh, right in front of me!

Cyrus, upon seeing this development, laughed out loud maniacally. "So you wish to fight the legendary Pokémon, do you?! It looks like you get your wish! Dialga! Palkia! Show this miniscule person what it means to defy greatness!"

"Terrence, we should run now!" cried Allison, tugging at my arm. "How are you going to defeat two legendary Pokémon?"

"I really don't know, Allison. I don't even think Boss Cyrus can control those two." _But just in case… got to get a Pokeball, now!_I thought quickly. I reached inside my pocket and pulled out the one that had Steelix inside. _You're my biggest Pokémon, Steelix. But I could be sending you to your death. Dude, I seriously need a miracle. Maybe I should start running; that would be the most logical thing to do._

_But I can't run. If I do, then who's going to stop this guy right now?_ I looked skyward to the colorful sky, praying for anything that would stop Cyrus.

However, Dialga and Palkia averted their attention from me and began to stare down Cyrus with menacing glares.

"Why do you two hesitate? I am your commander! Now, destroy Pluto!" he screamed, pointing a finger at me.

I could see the shock in Cyrus' eyes as Dialga charged up energy in its mouth, and Palkia in its arm. They were going to attack Cyrus with Roar of Time and Spatial Rend, their most powerful attacks! They'll obliterate him, plus most of the Spear Pillar, not to mention myself, Allison, Mars and Jupiter, and those two were still knocked out! I had no intention of destroying or killing him, all I wanted to do was foil his plans and show him the error of his ways, but what can I do to keep him—and the rest of us—from meeting death at the hands of Dialga and Palkia?

Then all of a sudden, three more lights began to shine in front of Dialga and Palkia. As if I didn't have enough trouble already.

I watched as the three glimmering lights receded, leaving behind… Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf!?

The three legendary Pokémon that kept Dialga and Palkia in check! I was never happier to see them again in my life.

The three lined up in a triangular formation around Cyrus and the two legendaries, and connected to each other with a white beam that shot from the jewels in their foreheads. All of a sudden, a triangular force field formed and shot up into the sky.

The field disappeared after a few moments, and Cyrus was left standing there by his lonesome. Palkia and Dialga were nowhere to be seen.

_Those three do their job well,_ I thought to myself.

"No… NO! NO NO NO!" was all that he could say as he vent his frustration at the three legendaries. They teleported again, and reappeared, Mespirit and Azelf in front of Cyrus, and Uxie, the yellow one, appeared in front of me and Allison. Mespirit and Azelf used their psychic powers from the jewels encrusted in their heads to break Cyrus' red and blue chain to dust that scattered in the wind, further enraging Cyrus. He began to swat at them, but they kept teleporting to dodge his flailing hands.

Meanwhile, I spoke to Uxie. "Dude! I am so happy you three managed to escape!" I exclaimed. "How _did_ you escape anyway?"

The jewel on Uxie's head began to glow a soft light blue, and an aura began to spread forward, enveloping me inside it.

* * *

_Before I knew it, I was in the basement of the Galactic Headquarters at Veilstone City, the very room where the three were imprisoned. I looked around for Allison, but realized she wasn't there. I also noticed that I was floating near the ceiling in a far corner of the room. Then Uxie appeared to my right side, mentioning for me to look down._

_I did so, and saw that Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf were still in their containers. Wait a minute… there can't be two Uxies, unless… I was in the past! Of course! This must've been what happened when they got released._

_I also saw Commander Saturn battling with his Toxicroak. The Poison/Fighting-type was doing somersaults through the air… in place? That's impossible, unless it was hit by a Psychic attack. That blue aura around Toxicroak... yep, definitely a Psychic attack. That's the _last _thing you would want to happen to a Toxicroak if you were its trainer, because Toxicroak was doubly weak to Psychic-type attacks. _

"_Medicham, Force Palm!"_

_That voice sounded like it belonged to a 12-year old kid!_

_I tried to catch a glimpse of who Saturn's opponent was, but all I saw was a Medicham sliding forward on its feet due to its psychic power and slamming both of its open palms into Toxicroak, creating a shockwave that knocked it towards Saturn, sending them both into the wall._

_Saturn wasn't knocked out by the impact, but the Toxicroak on his chest certainly was._

"_Toxicroak, return!" mumbled Saturn. It disappeared into its Pokeball, and Saturn staggered to his feet. "I can't believe this! What's Pluto going to say when he finds out about me getting creamed by a little ninja kid?"_

_I'd say that he'd have the worst of luck by being the one left behind._

_I looked over to the left and there really was a little ninja kid. I estimate he was about 4 ½ feet tall, with a purple ninja outfit with a white shirt underneath. His black headband, which resided above his green eyes and kept his messy black hair back, had a metal plate on the front with something embedded in Kanji. I didn't see any weapons on his person; either he didn't use any or they were well-concealed._

_He struck a fighting pose and said, "I'll never forgive you fiends! For killing my parents, I will have my revenge!"_

_Dude! This is that kid Carlton told me about! This was the guy who believes his parents are dead! I told Carlton to tell him that he should attack on Saturday, because that would be his best chance to destroy the remnants of Team Galactic after I was done foiling Cyrus' plans. But he took it upon himself to come a day earlier... today. He probably didn't believe me about what I said._

_This was the kid who wanted to destroy Team Galactic. But by doing so… at this time… he saved the syndicate's boss… and me as well. _

_Kid, I have got to thank you when I see you in person._

_The unknown ninja pinned Saturn against the wall with his psychic powers and screamed, "Where is she!?"_

"_W-W-Who?" Saturn struggled to get out._

"_The red-headed chick who took my parents away from me, that's who!"_

"_Red-headed chick… You don't mean… Commander Mars?"_

"_Whatever her name is. Where is she!?"_

"_She's nowhere in this building, I can honestly tell you that… Gah! Uhh…! Please… stop!_..._ I'm telling the truth!"_

"_You're telling me what I don't want to hear! Now tell me where she is, or I'll increase the intensity of my telekinesis again!"_

"_Mt… Coronet. She's with the boss… and two other Commanders… trying to summon Dialga… and Palkia. These three Pokémon you see here… I was tasked with guarding them… so everything would go off…"_

"…_Without a hitch?" the ninja kid finished. "If these three are the key to stopping your boss' plans, I'm going to free them… How do you free them again?"_

"_There's a red button… on that machine to your left," Saturn explained. "All you have to do is press it down. Go ahead and release them… it's not like I can stop you."_

_The ninja went over and slammed his fist on the red button mentioned by Saturn, shutting down the system. The three capsules opened, and Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf began to wake up._

"_One more question," Saturn inquired. "Who are you?"_

_The kid glared at him and said, "My name… is Xavier: psychic, ninja, Pokémon trainer, and…_

_Avenger."_

* * *

The aura disappeared, and Uxie along with it. I was back at the Spear Pillar. I looked around and noticed that Mespirit and Azelf were gone as well.

"Terrence, what happened to you? It looked like you were in a daze," Allison said.

"If I told you I saw Saturn get creamed by a 12-year-old who set those three free, would you believe me?" I asked her.

"Maybe… I still don't believe I saw five legendary Pokémon right before my very eyes."

"I still can't believe I _interacted_ with one," I mused.

I directed my attention towards Cyrus. He was on his hands and knees, still in shock over his plans being ruined. "How… how did those three escape their cells?" Then he looked up at me with a severely cold anger in his eyes. "It was you, wasn't it!?" care the harsh reply. "It was you… and Saturn as well! You two set me up!"

"Saturn had absolutely nothing to do with this," I explained. "He was defeated by a young Pokémon trainer who freed those three legendaries while you were summoning Dialga and Palkia. If not for him, we all would've died."

"If not for him, everything would've gone off without a problem," he said, rising to his feet.

"Dude, are you in denial!?" I yelled at him in disbelief. "Wake _up_! Those two almost destroyed you! You can't be a deity if you're dead!"

"No…but I can be a deity if _you're_ dead! I'm going to exterminate you, Pluto, so that you never interfere with my plans again!"

"Boss Cyrus… wait, why am I calling you 'Boss'? I'm leaving this organization. So… Cyrus! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle! Three-on-three sound fair?"

"Just because our last match ended in a tie, that doesn't mean you should get cocky!" He then took out a Pokémon from his belt. "I've grown stronger since our last battle, Pluto. It's foolhardy to even _think_ you stand a chance against me now!"

I took out one of my Pokéballs again, the same one which contained Steelix. "Well, Cyrus, there's only one way to find out! And by the way, call me Terrence from now on."

The last obstacle in my way: Cyrus.

The stakes: My freedom (and Allison's as well) if I lose, and Cyrus' plans for universal domination if he loses. I'll tell you one thing, though:

This is going to make one hell of a story for my grandchildren.

...If I survive to even _have_ grandchildren.

* * *

Finally! It all comes down to this! Terrence vs. Cyrus! The steel-type trainer faces off against the boss of Team Galactic. This is one battle you do not want to miss! Tune in next time for Chapter six!


	6. Chapter 6: Quit Your Day Job!

**Author's Notes: This is it! The chapter we've all been waiting for! How long did it take me to post this again. I had to keep revising it to make it seem like a grand battle, so I think I did alright. **

**So... do what you do, and leave a review. Rhyme intended.**

**Disclaimer:** **For the sixth time this story, I do not own Pokemon. I would like to own Commanders Mars and Jupiter. Just give me one night alone with the two of them... scratch that, make it three nights.**

**Ok, on with the story!**

* * *

Chapter 6: Quit Your Day Job!

It all comes down to this.

I have to face Cyrus head-to-head to ensure my ticket out of Team Galactic. If I fail, all I'm getting is a ticket to the afterlife.

Who would've thought that a fanatic of Steel-type Pokémon would travel from Hoenn to Sinnoh and join a Pokémon-snatching organization that plans to create a new world (literally), only to set plans in motion for the syndicate's failure to achieve what it wants most? Certainly not the guy standing in front of me, my former boss.

"Pluto… no, Terrence!" he grounds out, the anger seriously apparent in his eyes. "I still can't believe that you have the nerve to stand against me at a time like this. What you should've done was run as soon as you had the chance instead of challenging me to a battle."

"Well, I kind of did want to run at first," I admitted. "But I changed my mind about it. I needed to make sure you wouldn't try to look for me when I'm gone. Plus, you can think of this battle as something to remember me by."

"What about your grunts?" Cyrus asked. "Surely you can take them down single-handedly if you wanted to, just like you did before you faced Mars and Jupiter. That doesn't mean that _they_ still won't get in your way."

"Actually, I didn't take them out. When I told them that I was going to stop you, they began arguing among themselves about which one of us two was in the right. That led to one grunt challenging another grunt, and the rest followed, wanting to see the battle."

"Hmm… it looks like that battle is over," mused Cyrus, mentioning for me to look behind me.

I turned around, only to stare into the faces of seventeen grunts with an anxious look on their faces, with Charlie and Janice in the center of the group. Most were gaping at Jupiter and Mars lying unconscious on the ground. Man, I was hoping I'd have a little more time to battle Cyrus. Hopefully I don't have to take these guys out as well.

"Why are you all up here?" I warned, preparing for an onslaught. "I've already told you once to stay out of my way."

"Relax, Commander Pluto," spoke Charlie. "We just wanted to see you battle Cyrus. It was going to come about one way or another eventually."

"I agree with the dummy," says Janice, earning her a glare from Charlie. "A fight between established people like yourself and him would be one for the ages." So, my grunts aren't going to battle me after all. That makes things a heck of a lot easier.

"Speaking of fights, how did yours go?" I asked.

Charlie and Janice spoke in unison: "Tied. We used Slash at the same time." Realizing that they both said the same thing at the exact same time, they looked at each other and scoffed.

"Double KO, huh?" I asked. That was amusing.

"So what are you two going to do now?" asked Allison.

"Charlie can't leave, and I can't force him to stay. So we decided that whoever was left standing between you and Boss Cyrus would get their wish." Janice explained. "If you win, Charlie leaves, but if Boss Cyrus wins, he gets executed for desertion." So I have to carry his fate too, huh?

"Instead of negotiating with him," started Cyrus. "You can help me destroy him without the need for my hands getting dirty." Technically, it's the Pokémon that get their hands dirty (if they have any) in a Pokémon battle. "As your boss, I order you to destroy Terrence!"

"As your Commander, I order you to stand by and watch while I mop the floor with your boss!" I countered. At this the grunts had that look of confusion in their eyes, like they were unsure as to what to do. I decided to use this opportunity to convince them to let it be one-on-one. "Cyrus is supposedly boss enough to get you to battle for him. That means that he's too _weak_ to try to take care of me himself." I threw that last sentence towards Cyrus' way. "What kind of boss is he that he can't take care of major threats himself? He just doesn't want to get embarrassed by me, that's all."

Grunts replied with various gestures:

"Boss Cyrus isn't really chicken… is he?"

"Commander's got a good point, Boss!"

"We wanna see how strong you are! Don't let Team Galactic down!"

"BUK BUK BUK BUK BAWWK!!" If I lost, that particular grunt was _really_ going to get it.

"What kind of grunts are you!?" screamed Cyrus. "You supposed to follow my commands without question! But you're all so dimwitted to actually figure that out! I assume that was your influence, Terrence. It looks like I really will have to take care of you myself! And those of you on his side will not appreciate the result!"

"Dude, you act like you've already won," I said. "Let's get this over with! Allison, can you stay back with the other grunts?"

"Okay," Allison said. He made her way back to one grunt who said…

"Hey Pluto, you need music?" He was the same one who had the boombox on him before I went out to the center of the Spear Pillar. What do I need music for? I might not be able to concentrate on the battle if it's a song I like. But then again, if I win against Cyrus… I can only imagine him going irate whenever he hears whatever song that plays. "Oh, why not?" I said, shrugging my shoulders. "And make sure it's something worthy of an epic battle." Yeah. It'll almost be like a video game, where the music changes dramatically as the hero and the main antagonist duke it out.

"Alright. You ready Cyrus? Prepare yourself!"

"My Pokémon and I will crush you, Terrence. Make no mistake on that!"

I have to win. For myself, Allison, Xavier and his friends, and Charlie, and everyone else who is counting on me.

Cue boss music.

**A/N: Seriously, cue boss music.**

I enlarged the Pokéball that was still in my hand and chucked it forward. "Steelix, show 'em what you got!"

PING!

"_RWAAAAAR!" _The familiar roar from Steelix as it emerged from its Pokéball. The Iron Snake Pokémon was 30 feet long and very durable. It would take a massive effort to defeat it.

"There aren't many Pokémon that can take down a Steelix," I boasted. "Especially in one-on-one battles. Think you still stand a chance?"

"I told you not to get cocky!" yelled Cyrus. He enlarged his Pokéball and simply threw it. "Honchcrow."

PING!

"_CROW!" _

He's using a Honchcrow against a Steelix. Honchcrow was a Dark/Flying type. This should prove interesting.

I decided to start off with the first move. "Steelix, Dragonbreath!" Steelix gathered energy in its mouth, and then breathed a powerful mystic fire. All Honchcrow did was fly up vertically to avoid it.

"Nasty Plot."

Honchcrow's hat-like head began to glow a dark shade of purple. It was more than likely gathering energy for whatever attack it would use next.

I'm not giving it a chance, though. "Steelix, use Dragonbreath again while it's still charging!"

"Dark Pulse." Steelix released its Dragonbreath attack at the same moment Honchcrow unleashed its Dark Pulse: a large ball released from its mouth surrounded with an impressive aura, probably thanks to Nasty Plot. The ball of energy went straight through Steelix's Dragonbreath attack and hit it head on, creating a large explosion. Steelix seemed to be stunned when the smoke cleared. And Honchcrow was on top of its head!

"Drill Peck."

Honchcrow began pecking at Steelix's head furiously. While I knew it wouldn't take any serious damage from _that_, the attack before probably did some damage. What would my next move be? I could have Steelix use Iron Tail to smack off Honchcrow, but if it missed, Steelix would hit its own head. I couldn't have that. So I decided to do the next best thing.

"Steelix, go underground, now! Teardrop formation!"

Steelix burrowed its head under the ground as Honchcrow flew off of its head. I figured I would let it stay underground for a minute to let it recover from the head shots it was getting from Honchcrow. The 'teardrop formation' was a special concept that I developed with Steelix. After borrowing for a few seconds underground, it would borrow a tunnel shaped like a teardrop, with its head on top of the teardrop, facing the opening of the hole where it first came in. Any Pokémon curious enough to looked down into the hole would get blasted with a Dragonbreath.

"Nasty Plot." Honchcrow began to charge up power in its head while it was gliding in circles. Cyrus figured it would be ready for when Steelix showed itself.

Who said that Steelix would show itself? Not now anyway. I waited for Honchcrow to fly directly over the hole at which point I screamed, "Dragonbreath!" Steelix shot the mystic flame upwards out of the hole, hitting Honchcrow head on! "Yes!" I exclaimed as Honchcrow wheeled haphazardly to the ground in front of Cyrus. The teardrop formation was a success!

Cyrus didn't look too concerned about his Pokémon sprawled out on the ground, though. I bet I can change that!

"Steelix, come up now, and use Iron Tail!" Steelix burst out of the ground and circled Honchcrow once before preparing to slam its iron tail unto the black, white, and red bird.

"Dark Pulse!" Cyrus screamed.

Honchcrow turned its head upwards, and shot another dark energy ball at Steelix's head. "_RWAAAARR!_" Steelix got hit it its head again, and another, larger explosion occurred!

I heard a loud _THUD_! I knew that Steelix went down. My fears were confirmed when I saw Steelix lying sprawled out on its side, knocked out. Honchcrow must pack more power than I thought!

"You said that not many Pokémon can take down a Steelix. It that's so, then yours is incredibly weak," said Cyrus with contempt.

Damn it! I don't believe this! Steelix got taken down by a bird!? We are seriously going to need more training after this battle!

"Steelix, return!" And the massive Steelix disappeared into its Pokéball.

"Return, Honchcrow." Honchcrow did the same into Cyrus' Pokeball. "Now you have to win two battles in a row to proclaim your so-called freedom," he reminded me with not so much as a smirk. Either he was totally focused on this battle or he lacked a basic sense of humor. Or maybe he was extremely pissed off at me. Maybe it was all three.

There were a few grunts who cheered for Cyrus and his apparent early victory. I glanced over towards Allison, who had a look of worry on her face that started to worry even me. I gave her thumbs up for reassurance…

"Crobat!" Cyrus cried.

_PING! "Cro…bat!"_

Dude, you couldn't even give me a chance to console my girlfriend? Fine then, if that's how you want to play…

I reached for my Pokéball in the bottom of my right pocket. I looked on the top to see a symbol of a magnet engraved on it. Perfect! This was the one Pokémon who would put Cyrus in his place. I enlarged it and tossed it up in the air.

"Magneton, avenge Steelix!"

_PING! "TON! BZZZT!"_

Magneton, the evolution of Magnemite. It clearly has the advantage here, being an Electric/Steel type. Electricity is the best thing to use against a Flying-type Pokémon, and its Steel-typing gives Magneton a complete immunity to Crobat's poison moves.

However, this was Cyrus' Crobat I was facing. The one who used Supersonic to confuse and indirectly faint a whole bunch of Graveler. I would have to watch for that. Also, it was very fast. Can Magneton shoot it down before Crobat somehow manages to take it down? Most people would think that a Crobat would stand no chance against a Magneton. And they would also say that a Steelix could take down a Honchcrow easily. Well, you see how _that_ battle went.

I'm not taking any chances. "Magneton, Zap Cannon!" I'm going to end this quick!

"_TON!" _Magneton began charging up for its Zap Cannon attack…

"Air Slash."

Crobat sent a sharp blade of air in Magneton's direction so fast that Magneton couldn't avoid it. It took the hit head on, and the energy it was gathering up dissipated.

So, he was going to keep me from using electricity, huh? Doesn't matter. I have other ways to win.

"X-Scissor."

Crobat began to wheel towards Magneton, with its four wings outstretched, threatening to slash Magneton in a lot of different places.

Big mistake. "Magneton, Swift!"

Magneton used its Swift attack: it shot star-shaped rays from each of its three eyes, hitting Crobat head on. Even if Crobat tried to avoid it, the attack would've hit. That's the beauty of Swift: It never misses. Well, that and shooting stars (literally) at your opponent is pretty cool.

Crobat tumbled towards the ground. It was likely seeing stars. Ha ha.

"Finish this with Tri Attack!"

Before Crobat could lift off of the ground again, Magneton unleashed its Tri Attack; a red, blue, and yellow beam shot from either of Magneton's eyes caught it in an explosion.

I felt a bit of a chill before the smoke cleared. When it did, I immediately knew why I was feeling so cold.

Crobat was trapped in a stalagmite of ice!

Sweet! Tri attack has added effects to it as well. It can burn, paralyze, or freeze the opponent. Those effects rarely happen, but when one of them does, consider yourself lucky!

…Or unlucky, judging by the look on Cyrus' face.

He simply shook his head and said, "Crobat, return!" Crobat returned to its Pokeball, ice and all.

I was going to have to reward Magneton when I get the chance. Cyrus and I are tied now! …Wait a minute, why is Magneton glowing white all of a sudden? Pokémon don't do that unless they evolve!

…Unless it _was _evolving! But that's impossible! Magneton doesn't have another evolution… that I know of, at least.

Everyone (except Cyrus) watched in awe as Magneton turned into a glowing white ball. Its body then melded into a horizontal oval-like shape, with two small circular bits attached to its ends. A magnet attached in front of the two ends, and what looked like an antenna sprouted upwards from the center. When the light dissipated, there was an eye on either end, and a blue eye at the center. Its body was now light blue, compared to the grey of its former form, and the antenna was orange.

I walked up to it and asked, "Magneton? Uh… What's your name now?"

"_SHNNN! …ZONE!"_

"Zone? Maybe… Magnezone?"

"_MAGNEZONE! SHNNN!"_

My Magneton evolved into a Magnezone! Dude! I didn't even know Magneton had an evolution until now! What had caused it to evolve? Did it have something to do with the multi-colored sky I saw earlier? …Ah, well, I'll figure it out later. Right now, there's a third battle coming up.

"Magnezone," I said with a smile on my face, "Return!" Magnezone disappeared into its Pokéball, and I put it back in my pocket. "Hey Cyrus, I hope you weren't taking me lightly on that one! I hate when people do that. You had better make this last one count!"

"Lucky shot with the Tri Attack," Cyrus said. I couldn't agree with him more. If Crobat wasn't frozen right then and there, the battle would've continued on, and Cyrus would've tried a Supersonic attack next, and who knows what would've happened after that. I'm very grateful to have ended that battle in a quick-fast hurry.

"Terrence, once I defeat you, your Magnezone will be of great use to the endeavors of Team Galactic," said Cyrus. Oh, that's right. Team Galactic harnesses the power of evolution. When a Pokémon evolves, it gives off a strange, unknown energy that we—excuse me, _they_—use to put power into Cyrus' chain to make it more stable. Of course, the grunts don't know about this, only the Commanders do.

Commanders… I wonder how Mars and Jupiter are doing.

"Hey, they're waking up!" one of the grunts said.

Oh, great. More trouble.

I turned around to see Commanders Mars and Jupiter being helped to their feet by some of my grunts. "Oww… stupid Pluto," said Mars. "When I see him and that girl, I'm gonna…"

"You're gonna do what?" I asked.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open. "Say what!? You're still here?"

"Not for much longer, I hope," I said, walking up to her. "Right now, I'm in the middle of a battle with your boss."

"Humph… serves you right, Pluto," said Jupiter. "There's no way you can defeat Boss Cyrus. Isn't that right, Boss?"

Cyrus just looked at them with contempt. "Mars, Jupiter, you two are completely _useless_! How I ever made you two Commanders is beyond me!" he raged.

I could tell they were both hurt, especially Mars. "You don't understand, Boss! Pluto's girlfriend had turned on him, or so it seemed like, and we had let them battle, but it was part of a setup…"

"No! Excuses!" Cyrus screamed. "When I ask you to do a job, I want it done! I don't care what happens in between. You two still could've battled and made it a three on one! And you mean to tell me that you got creamed without even battling?!"

"Well… we thought that it would be better for Allison to take care of him. You know… emotional breakdown…ha ha." Jupiter's voice was shaking. Her voice never shook; she always spoke with conviction.

"As it stands, you two failed me in the biggest undertaking in Team Galactic history!" yelled Cyrus. "I blame you two alone! After this is over, you two will be demoted to grunts!"

"No!" pleaded Mars.

"You question my authority?"

"…No…sir," she whimpered.

"Oh, come on now, Cyrus!" I said, turning around to face him. "They only did what they thought was right for the syndicate! They just got caught off-guard, that's all. Everybody makes mistakes, dude. You shouldn't just go off on them because they failed. I mean, how many times have you failed as a Boss?"

"At least when _I_ failed, it wasn't as big as a screw-up as this!"

"But still! It's not like _they_ broke your chain. It's not like _they_ challenged you to a battle."

"And just why are you standing up for them, then? By betraying me, you also betrayed them."

I looked down out of embarrassment. "Because… I appreciate them for what they've done. Not for the syndicate, but for themselves." It's true; I really did acknowledge them for the path of accomplishment they took. Because I took the same path as they did. I just realized that my path was wrong for me when I found out about this legendary scheme.

"It's true… what you said, then," said Mars.

"What did he say?" asked Jupiter.

"That he didn't hate Team Galactic,_"_ Mars told her. "Not the people, anyway._"_

"Yeah," I said. "Mars, Jupiter, you guys were something like older sisters to me. And Saturn was like a brother. You guys were something like a family to someone who was trying to find their purpose. Maybe that's why I joined. I don't know what you two are going to do, but when I win against Cyrus, I'm going to leave. I finally realize that my place is not here. So let me finish this battle, and you can decide for yourselves whether or not this is right for yourselves." I turned away from them, walking towards the center of the crowd, ready to finish this battle with Cyrus. "Let's finish this!"

"I'll gladly finish you," seethed Cyrus.

I reached into my left pocket, and reached for a Pokéball with a pincer engraved on it. I looked at it, and saw a grey feather instead. _No, that's Skarmory's Pokéball. I promised it that it would be as a last resort kind of thing. The stakes are even, so I'm going to use Scizor instead. _I placed Skarmory's Pokéball back and took out the one that contained Scizor. I enlarged it and threw it forward.

"Scizor, it's your turn!"

_PING! _

"_Scizor!" _Scizor emerged with its trademark stance: one pincer in the air, the other pointed towards Cyrus. "So, who do you stake this last battle on?" I asked Cyrus.

"My most trustworthy Pokémon." He got out another Pokéball from his belt and chucked it forward. "Weavile."

_PING!_

"_Vile! Weavile!"_

Weavile? …It looks a lot like a Sneasel, but different somehow. For one, there were a whole bunch of red fur sticking out from the top of its head, unlike the one feather on top of Sneasel's, and there was a red ring of fur around its neck in place of a jewel in front of its chest. And the round yellow jewel on its head was now shaped like a diamond. Also, these Pokémon's claws were _way_sharp. I could feel the air being sliced lightly as it dangled its arms back and forth. I guess it's safe to say that Weavile is the evolution of Sneasel.

I also noticed from our last battle that Weavile didn't have that pendant hanging around its neck anymore, which consisted of nothing but a Razor Claw embedded on a string. Wonder what happened to it?

Okay, time to focus on this last battle. "Scizor, use Metal Claw!"

"_Scizor!" _Scizor charged forward with a gleaming claw raised, ready to strike Weavile when it got close to it.

"Ice Punch."

_"Vile." _Weavile shot forward with its right claw glowing blue and landed an Ice Punch in Scizor's exposed torso the very next second. Scizor stopped its own attack because Weavile's attack obviously made it flinch. Dude, Weavile was _fast. _Scizor was only halfway there when Cyrus gave the order. If Weavile could close the distance that fast…

"Brick Break."

Weavile spun and gave a horizontal chop to Scizor's skull, which couldn't protect itself because it was still flinching from Ice Punch. Scizor stumbled backwards to a safe distance.

"Ice Punch. Finish it."

No, not like this. My freedom, Allison… Everything will have disappeared up in smoke.

"Scizor, Metal Claw. Knock it sky high!"

As Weavile launched forward, Scizor ducked and got Weavile with an uppercut to the chin with its Metal Claw attack, sending it flying. "Good, now jump and use X-Scissor!" Scizor leapt upwards to meet Weavile in midair, who still hadn't recovered.

_SWIPE, SWIPE! SWIPE, SWIPE!_

Scizor crossed its arms while slashing Weavile, and then uncrossed its arms while doing the same thing. Scizor repeated its attack before Weavile slammed into a pillar, causing it to tumble over. Scizor beat its wings, descending slowly with its arms crossed. _That's my Scizor! _I thought. As Weavile struggled to get up, I screamed, "Scizor, end this with a Metal Claw!" Scizor dashed forward to meet Weavile again…

"Night Slash."

Before Scizor could connect, Weavile ducked underneath its arm while slashing Scizor's body vertically, causing it to stumble backwards.

"Brick Break." Weavile jumped lightly into the air and placed a vertical chop on Scizor's skull before it could recover, sending its body, head-first, into the ground. After this, Weavile leapt backwards to Cyrus' side. Everyone around watched with baited breath to see if Scizor would get back up on its feet. _Damn… I didn't really lose… did I?_

"I commend you for pushing me to this extreme, Terrence. But it seems that you have lost this battle… and your life as well."

_No. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen! My Pokémon were supposed to cream Cyrus, and then maybe he would see that he was wrong in his endeavors. I would make off with Allison afterwards and start a new life with her. But now... Scizor is lying on the ground and all of my dreams have been slashed to bits thanks to that Weavile. No… I refuse to let it end like this. Scizor, get up! Get up, PLEASE!"_

"_Sci…Zor…" _Did Scizor just hear my silent prayer? It was now pushing itself up from the ground, but then fell to one knee. I could tell it was hurt badly. If it was any other battle, I would've thrown in the towel because I wouldn't want any of my Pokémon to be hurt too badly.

Scizor stuck out its pincer forward, turned it upwards, and began a slow, snipping motion. I could tell it was just thinking, _Just bring it! _Ah, Scizor… trying to be cool like always.

"Scizor… are you sure?"

Scizor turned and nodded its head.

"So, your Pokémon wishes to suffer more, does it?" asked Cyrus. He then turned to Weavile. "Night Slash, full power." Weavile dashed forward to meet Scizor…

"Scizor… use Iron Head!"

"_ZOOOOOOOOOORRRR!"_

_CLANG!_

Scizor, with a burst of speed coming from who knows where, leapt forward like a red missile with its head stuck out, aiming for Weavile's chest where it had slashed before. It was a direct hit, and Weavile was sent flying (and that was a hell of an understatement) backwards past Cyrus into the guy with the boombox, smashing it to pieces. After a long silence, several people voiced their opinions…

"Whoa!"

"That was wicked!"

"Scizor's that strong? Who knew?"

"No! My boombox! Ow… my chest…!"

"…Maybe we were better off being knocked out earlier, Jupiter…"

"You did it, Terrence! I'm so glad to be your girlfriend!"

"…Impossible! My dreams of remaking the world gone up in smoke!"

I ran towards Scizor, elated with its prowess. But Scizor fell forward and met the floor without any warning. "Scizor!" I cried as I knelt down towards it.

I glanced upwards and watched as Cyrus recalled Weavile into its Pokéball from the other side of the ring of spectators. Then he glanced towards me. I gave him the exact same look, signaling that I knew what he was thinking.

The entire match was considered a tie.

I recalled Scizor to its Pokéball and stood to face Cyrus, who said, "I hope that you realize that this is not over. I will create a new chain, and increase security at HQ, and find new ways to obtain the power that is so rightfully mine."

"Yeah, and when you do, I'll be there to stop you once and for all. All I wanted to do was make you see that what you were doing was wrong, but it looks like I failed. You know, I could just kill you outright with my Pokémon, but I don't believe in death as means of accomplishing anything. So, you'll live, but I'll leave this syndicate."

"You won't last long as an outsider. You were a top Commander directly under me, Terrence. When the police find out about your connections to Team Galactic…"

"Who says they'll find out? I won't say anything about my involvement with Team Galactic. I won't mention you, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, or anyone else here to anybody important. Just let me stay free. If I even so much as _think_ you're intruding on my freedom, I'm coming after you and anyone else who stands in my way! And that's truth!"

Now I had to address the majority of everyone here. "To all of my grunts, I hereby announce Commander Pluto's division of Team Galactic… disbanded! To those of you who would continue to work for Cyrus, I won't stop you, but I will say this: Don't try to stop anyone who wants to leave this syndicate."

"To those of you who wish to leave Team Galactic, I am glad that I have presented the opportunity for you to do so. But there one thing that I ask of you: Do not follow me and Allison. We're starting our own journey together, and I don't want any interference."

"You just wanna bed Allison without anyone else knowing."

"Shut up, Janice!" I yelled while trying not to blush. Several grunts chuckled. I turned to Cyrus. "Cyrus, remember: another stunt like this, and we will meet again."

"We most certainly will," he said.

"Good, now that that's out of the way…" I took out the Pokeball that had Skarmory in it and tossed it. "We'll be on our way."

_PING! "SKAR!"_

"Skarmory, it's time to go! Allison, come on!"

"Okay. Heracross!"

_PING!_ _"HERACROSS!"_

I saddled myself on Skarmory's back and Heracross was floating with Allison in its arms. I pointed to a random direction and said, "Take off!" As we did, it took all of my focus to not look back at the people I left behind.

"So where are we going, Terrence?" Allison asked.

"…I really don't know, beautiful. Once we find a road, we'll follow it to wherever it leads. And once we get there, we ask for a map of Sinnoh!"

And with that, the Steel Spear is going to attempt his first stab at freedom.


	7. Chapter 7: Preparing for Adventure

**Author's Note:**** You didn't really think the story was over, didn't you?**

**Well, one time I was considering ending this story where it is right now, but there are so many unanswered questions. I mean, somebody must be curious about Terrence and Allison's adventures as they explore the Sinnoh region. And what about Xavier? Will he see his parents again? Plus, it seems like I get a new idea to input into the story every day. In fact, I already have the next 8-9 chapters planned out in my head.**

…**Yes, this story is going to take longer than you think. This is only the second arc, "Facing Past and Future."**

**I would've updated sooner, but it's summer, and looking for a summer job, along with other things going on, have really put a hinder on things. By the way, did anyone go to Toys R Us May 31- June 1 to get their Darkrai? I did! But I couldn't get Deoxys at my local Gamestop mid-June... sighs**

**And in other news... I may be posting an entirely new story! Still working out the details, though, but it's going to be great, I promise! Now if my lazy butt would just get around to writing it...**

**Okay, one more thing in this insanely long A/N: Thanks to all who read this story and especially those who reviewed! You guys and girls are awesome!**

**So anyway, do what you do: Relax, Read, and Review!**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Pokemon, or Team Galactic. I only own my OCs, and a copy of Pokemon Pearl. **

* * *

Chapter 7: Preparing for Adventure

"Terrence?"

"Allison?"

She spins around to get a better look at her surroundings. "Where exactly are we?" she asks.

"Good question," I reply, not having much of a clue about where we are. "All I see are a bunch of blue and white windmills surrounding a large meadow. And… Oh, look! There's a sign! Hopefully it tells us where this place is."

Allison and I approach the sign, which reads, _"Valley Windworks. Ecological, Wind-Driven Energy."_

"So that's what this place is called," says Allison. She then points towards the building. "Do you think there is anyone in there who can tell us where the nearest town is?"

"There's only one way to find out, Allison. Come on, and let's see if there's anyone that can help us."

* * *

The inside of the Valley Windworks building was pristine and orderly, even with the computers and machines whirring about. Allison and I approached one of the employees to see about a map.

"Um, excuse us, sir, but..."

"Yes, can I help you?" the tall man asks?

I cleared my throat and asked him, "Would you or anyone else have a spare--"

"Wait a minute! You're from Team Galactic, aren't you!?" the man suddenly shouts, drawing a crowd of hate-filled spectators. "It must've been you guys that was behind that weird looking sky several hours ago. And now you're back to try to take control of the Valley Windworks again!"

...What the hell is he talking about? Take over the Valley Windworks again?

"Wait a minute, we're not with Team Galactic anymore!" I explained. "We're trying to break away from them and start our own lives. In fact, if it wasn't for me, the world as we know it wouldn't even _exist_ anymore!"

"What are you getting at, Galactic scum?"

Scum?

Hold in temper, Terrence. Hold...in_...temper_! "I had to fight my own boss in order to keep him from destroying the world." _Deep breaths._ "My name is Terrence, and this is Allison. We were Team Galactic members several hours ago. But I fought my boss over his desire to reshape the world and now we've broken away from the syndicate."

"I don't believe you in the least bit!" the man bellowed. "If you claim that you're not with Team Galactic anymore, then why do you both have on those... ridiculous space outfits?"

"Like he said," began Allison, "we only left hours ago and we had no idea where we were headed. This is the first spot of civilization that we saw since we left Mt. Coronet, so we decided to ask for directions to the nearest town."

"...You sure you're not making up this crap?"

"No, it's the honest truth! ...Sir." I nodded my head in agreement.

The man (whose name was Jonas by the way, I read it on his nametag) turned to face the majority of the crowd. "As far as organizations go, I am all for the disappearance of Team Galactic."

"You're not the only one, boss!" cried an employee.

"Damn straight!" chorused another.

"Ahem!" Jonas cleared his throat for silence. "But as far as individuals go, I believe everyone deserves a second chance if they appear to have good intentions. But that's my take. I want to know what the rest of you think we should do."

"You want my opinion, boss?" spoke an employee. "I say ship 'em back to Veilstone and let 'em rot!"

"I don't think you should be too hard on them..." said another. "I mean, like if they wanted to control this place again, they would send more people, especially in better condition than these two are in."

"We weren't sent by anybody," I clarified. "We, as individuals, came here on our own free will."

"How do you expect us to believe that, huh!? You could just be setting up for the rest of those goons while you're trying to get in our favors again!" spoke an outraged employee. "It was you people in Eterna City that stole my son's Buneary without any remorse!"

"We apologize for whatever happened to you. All of you," Allison's voice rang out. "We are done being involved with Team Galactic. Now and forever. But if they come after us again, we will see to it ourselves that Team Galactic is done for good!"

"And if there's any funny business we see from the both of you, we'll see to it _ourselves_ that _you're_ done for good!" said Jonas. "sigh... Now, tell me... what exactly are you here for?"

"We just want a map and some directions to the nearest town," I explained. "And a change of clothes."

"Well, we may have a few spare uniforms that you can have. I'll lead you to them. But any funny business and I'll call the authorities faster than you can say, 'Blast off!' Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you so much for helping us."

Jonas led us through the crowd towards what I assumed was their locker room. Still, I couldn't help but wonder what the guy meant when he said that we were trying to take over this place _again_. "Sir, um... if I could ask you a question, earlier you had said that we were trying to take over the Valley Windworks again. What happened the last time?"

He stopped mid-stride, causing me to bump into him suddenly. Turning around slowly, he questioned, "You two must not have been in Team Galactic long, have you?"

"She hasn't," I explained, notioning towards Allison. "I've been in Team Galactic for about... three years now."

"That long, and you still don't know that some woman named Commander Mars had this place under her control about seven months ago?"

"...I didn't know that. She never said anything about it. So... you guys kicked her out?"

"Yeah, we kicked her out, but not without the help of everyone in Floraroma Town. That's the nearest place from here. Everyone had to rally to beat back those fiends. Even Nurse Joy had to take some time off from the Pokemon Center. We still aren't exactly sure as to why Team Galactic wanted to take this place over. Something about needing energy for a chain."

A chain! The one that Cyrus had and damn near destroyed the world with! He got energy from this place too, huh? I thought we... I mean, _they_... were producing enough energy from HQ.

So that's why I never heard Mars say anything about this. Because in the end, she was humiliated by a whole town. If it were me, I wouldn't want to talk about it, either.

We continued walking and were led to a large locker room. Inside, the man opened up a closet and proceeded to take out two pristine, white lab coats. "It's not much, but it'll have to do for now. You should go to Floraroma Town and do some clothes shopping there," Jonas said while tossing us our new clothes.

"Thank you, sir. Um... could we change in private, please?"

"Oh, sorry, I'll see my way out. We have a separate room for the lady if she wishes..."

"That's okay," Allison interrupted. "I don't mind being in here with him."

"...So, you two are a couple, huh?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"It figures. Well, if you two really do have good intentions, then good luck to the both of you!" he said, closing the door behind him.

I turned to Allison and said, "Once we finish changing, we should get moving to Floraroma Town. I wonder which way it is?"

"We should ask for a map again once we get dressed," suggested Allison as she began to take off her uniform. I swear, it took all of my willpower to keep myself from making a repeat performance from five nights ago. But when I look at Allison, she just... radiates beauty. I must be doing something right if my first girlfriend is as beautiful as her...

"Terrence?"

"Yes, beautiful?"

"I know what you're thinking, and I'm going to say this: Not in here. Especially with all of the workers in this building."

_Damn._ "W-What makes you think that I was going to help to strip, and then make love to you like it was nobody else's business?"

She winked at me and said, "Because you just said so. _And_ you were staring at me. Hard. But we have to practice self-restraint. For the rest of the day, anyway."

"Yeah, and I did say that we should get to know each other a bit more before we do it again. You have a level head on top of a gorgeous figure, Allison. It's not many people that can boast brains, common sense, and beauty."

"I... thank you, Terrence. I don't really get compliments like that much in Pastoria City."

"Pastoria City?"

"Yeah, my birthplace."

"Cool. What was life like there?" I wondered.

"Well, being an orphan for half of my life, I was taken in by a kind and loving couple who already had a child. They were good friends of my late parents. They had been hiking all over Sinnoh, and every night they would tell me stories about the places they visited. I started to search for a job when I became 16, but there were so many people who were applying for the same kind of jobs that I was looking for. Especially at the Pokemon Gym where Wake-- I mean, Crasher Wake-- works."

"That's right, I did notice a Gym when we walked through the city. What does he specialize in?"

"Water-type Pokemon."

So, another Water-type Pokemon Gym Leader. Wonder if he could hold a candle to Hoenn's Wallace?

"It was then that I heard about Team Galactic," Allison continued. "They had this slogan on one of their commercials that said, 'Our peace for your world.' It just seemed so noble, and they might be accepting jobs there. But one of the requirements is that you have prior experience with Pokemon. So I decided to become a Pokemon trainer. But I really didn't fancy the Water-types around Pastoria, so my foster mother gave me a Wurmple instead. I told her that I didn't really like Bug-types either, but she insisted by saying something beautiful would come about when a Trainer raises his or her Pokemon with love and care. A few weeks later, my Wurmple evolved into a Silcoon and then into a Beautifly a week after that. I then found a Heracross on a tree on Route 213, and successfully caught it. I've been training them ever since. A year later I left for Veilstone City, and the rest is history, I guess."

"Cool story," I replied. I guess Allison had a normal start like most other trainers. Something beautiful would come about when a trainer raises Pokemon with love and care. Inside and outside, apparently. Allison must've always been gorgeous, but I think that her introduction to Pokemon is what caused her to have a radiant heart as well.

"Hey, you two done in there?" someone asked from the other side of the door. Apparently we were just in our undergarments the whole time Allison was telling her story.

"Give us one more minute," I replied back as Allison and I rushed to put on the rest of our clothes.

A minute later we emerged from the storage room and were greeted by another scientist and a little girl who tagged along beside him. I asked the man, "Would you guys happen to have a fire anywhere?"

"We produce energy from wind, not coal. What would you possibly need a fire for?" questioned the scientist.

"It's for our clothes, not us," I explained, holding up our two crumpled up uniforms. "We're starting a new life away from Team Galactic and--"

"I know. My little girl and I were in that crowd of people that gathered around to see you two. So, you want to burn your clothes to symbolize the fact that you're moving on. Is that it?"

"Exactly!"

The little girl spoke up. "Daddy, is it okay if I let them borrow my Vulpix?"

"Abby, you sure?"

"Yes, Daddy. I'll just have it use Will-o-Wisp!"

"...Alright." Then he turned to myself and Allison. "But we need to lead you outside so that we don't set the sprinklers off."

"It's fine by us," said Allison. "By the way, do you have a map of Sinnoh that we could have?"

"Sure, I have it right here in my pocket." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded-up map.

"Dude, that was fast," I mused.

"Well, naturally. The first guy that you were talking to, he's our supervisor, Jonas. He said that you were asking for a map and wanted me to have it for you before you left. My name is Earl, and this is my little girl, Abby."

"Hi, there!" chirped Abby.

"What's up, Abby," I smiled back.

"Aren't you just adorable!" Allison cooed.

* * *

"Well, this looks like a good spot," said Earl, who led us to a fork in the road away from the Valley Windworks. "Once we're done here, you follow this road straight to the west and you'll end up in Floraroma Town in a little less than 30 minutes. Make sure you say hi to Nurse Joy for me once you get there."

"Yeah! Say hi to Mommy!"

"That'll be out first stop, then. Abby, can you have your Vulpix burn our clothes for us?" I asked.

"Sure!" Abby reached into her pocket, pulled out a shiny Pokeball, enlarged it, and tossed it high.

"Vulpix, come on out!"

_PING!_

"_Vulpix!_"

My first time ever seeing a real-live Vulpix. The well-brushed red fur, the piercing red eyes, the six curled tails that were dyed an even deeper shade of red. This Vulpix just screamed "cute, lovable Fire-type fox."

I set our clothes on the ground and everyone backed away, just before Abby gave the command. "Vulpix, use Will-o-Wisp to burn those clothes!"

_"Vuuuuullllllll..." _A small indigo orb appeared over Vulpix's head and floated towards the clothes until it was just above them. _"Vulpix!"_

BOOM! The orb collapsed into itself, and in its place, a spiraling coulmn of intense fire that seared our clothes into ashes in seconds flat. The blast was so hot that I had to wipe the sweat that somehow found its way to my forehead. "Done!" confirmed Abby when the column disappeared. "You know, that was the first time someone wanted me to burn something that belonged to them."

"We appreciate your help, Abby. You too, Earl."

"Just don't cause any trouble, okay?" Earl said.

"We won't," replied Allison. "I hope we meet again."

"I hope so too, hopefully on these same friendly terms," said Earl.

"That makes three of us!" I said.

"Make that four!" said Abby.

"Oh, right, four," I corrected. "All right, take care!"

"Bye!" chorused Earl and Abby as we headed towards Floraroma Town.

* * *

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center." said Nursy Joy as we walked inside the red and white building.

"Hey, Nurse Joy. Could you please do a checkup on our Pokemon, please?" I asked.

Allison, however, just stared at Nurse Joy, mouth wide open. "You look just like the Nurse Joy from Pastoria City!"

Nurse Joy chuckled. "Oh, so you've met my cousin, have you?"

"Cousin?" Allison gasped. "But you two look exactly alike! You two could be twins!"

"Allison, you can expect to see a lot of Nurse Joys on our travels. There's a lot of them scattered over the regions, and they all run Pokemon Centers," I explained.

"It's true," confirmed Nurse Joy as she took out a photo album. She flipped to a picture that had fifteen Nurse Joys, lined in rows like a pyramid. "I have lots of sisters and cousins, and we all have the last name Joy. These are just the ones who work in the Sinnoh region." She motioned to the Joy at the top of the pyramid, extending a peace sign from both arms in the air. "That's me on top."

Allison stared at the picture before finally saying, "Wow... Talk about a Joy-ful world."

"That it is. Now, I'll need to see your Pokeballs so I can place them in this machine for a quick scan..." I handed Joy my four, and Allison handed over her three. Nurse Joy, placed them inside of the machine and began to scan each one.

"Let's see... a Skarmory, a Scizor, a Steelix, and... a Magnezone! Wow! This is very rare!"

"My Magneton evolved into it after a battle on Mt. Coronet. Could you do an extensive checkup on it, please?" I asked.

"Will do," complied Nurse Joy. "There's also a Heracross, a Beautilfy, and a Bronzor." She tapped her head and thought for a few moments before finally saying, "Okay, I see how I'm going to do this." She pushed a button on a monitor in front of her at the counter. "Oh, Chansey!"

_DING!_ Two sliding doors opened, and a Chansey emerged. _"Chansey!"_

Nurse Joy turned towards Chansey and said, "I need a basic checkup room set up. And could you also set up a portable advanced scanner?"

"_Chansey, Chansey!" _The round, pink Pokemon with a nurse's cap then proceeded to head back from where it came.

"Okay, I'll probably need about two and a half hours for examination. In the meantime, you can explore Floraroma Town. Take some time and enjoy the flowers!"

"We'll do that. Oh, and by the way, Earl and Abby said hi."

"Oh, they did? That's so very sweet of them. ...How do you know them, anyway?" asked Nurse Joy.

"We are out exploring Sinnoh," Allison started. "Our first stop was the Valley Windworks. They had given us directions to here."

"I had thoughts you were explorers, but the lab coats kinda had me confused for a minute."

"Do you know of any clothes stores around here?" I asked.

"Well, you could try the Poke Mart not too far from here," suggested Nurse Joy. "It's a one stop shop for Pokemon essentials, clothes, food... you name it."

"Alright then, thanks. We'll be back after a while," I told her. Allison walked out of the Pokemon Center hand in hand as we decided to shop for items at the Poke Mart.

* * *

Three hours later, we had arrived back at the Center. Along the way, we had stopped to see a extremely large flower patch in which a balding man was selling honey. Allison bought about five jars of the sweet stuff. At the Poke Mart, we bought three sets of clothes each, and Allison bought two Poke Balls. The ladies who work the counter had let us walk out in out new clothes after we had paid for them. I had a new white T-shirt that had "Gym Leader Material" emblazoned on the front. To go with it, I had a silver jacket along with some matching grey pants and black shoes. Allison donned herself with a white and pink striped shirt with blue pants and blue shoes.

Now we were standing in front of Nurse Joy as she began to explain how our Pokemon were doing. "Everything seems to be in order, except for one thing... Terrence, was it?"

"Yes, Nurse Joy?" I asked, wondering what bad news the pink-haired woman could possibly give me.

"It's about your Magnezone. It knew the moves Zap Cannon and Swift, didn't it?"

"Yea, that's right," I confirmed. ...Wait a minute. _Knew?_

"It appears your Magnezone has learned two new moves alongside the loss of Zap Cannon and Swift. The first move is called Discharge."

"Discharge?"

"Yes, Discharge is less powerful than Zap Cannon and even Thunderbolt. But it can shoot out plenty more electric jolts than usual. You'll have to train it so that the jolts don't manage to hit your ally in a double battle, though."

"But why would Magnezone learn Discharge? In the past it could handle Zap Cannon just fine."

"That's the key term," Nurse Joy signaled. "In the past. To perform a Zap Cannon attack, a Pokemon would have to be able to focus its electric power on a certain point. For a Magneton, that place would probably be the gap in the center of the three round spheres of its body. With a Magnezone, there are three possible places where it could gather that energy: its antenna and its two magnets at its sides. Neither one point is powerful enough to draw the power to it without some resistance from the other two points, so a Zap Cannon attack would be very hard to pull off. Discharge, on the other hand, would work well for your Magnezone since it doesn't have to focus its energy in just one place. It can just shoot bolts from all three points."

Man, this Nurse Joy definitely knew what she was talking about. "Okay, I think I understand that, but what's the next move I should know about?"

"The next move Magnezone knows is called Mirror Shot. Very few Pokemon can learn this move." Dude! A rare move! "What the move does is this: Magnezone looses a brilliant damaging flash at its opponent. The flash may even dazzle opponents' eyesight so that their own attacks hit less often. I recommend that you train Magnezone with these two moves as soon as possible so there are no surprises when it comes to battles."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," I said.

"That's cool, your Pokemon knowing two new moves," said Allison. "I wonder when my Pokemon will learn some new moves."

"Every Pokemon grows and gains experience in is own time," explained Nurse Joy. "As long as you raise you Pokemon to be the best it can be, it will eventually grow and learn new moves. Especially your Bronzor. I can definitely see some potential coming from it."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy. By the way, is there a hotel in which we can stay for the night?" asked Allison as we picked up our Pokeballs.

"Let's see..." Nurse Joy looked up to the sky with her finger on her chin. "If I had to recommend one, it would be... Yeah, that one!"

That one? "Which one?" I asked.

"The Morning Sunflora! It has very nice food and the best aromatherapy in town aside from the flower meadow north of here!"

"Alright then, to the Morning Sun it is!" I shouted, with my fist raised in the air. Then a thought suddenly occured to me, and I let my fist down sheepishly.

"Which way is it?"

* * *

After spending the night at The Morning Sunflora, Allison and I packed our bags and went down to the Pokemon Center again to bid Nurse Joy a final goodbye. She was at the front desk, with Earl and Abby on either side of her. Abby noticed us first, and shouted, "Hi, Terrence and Allison!" Earl and Nurse Joy noticed us as well.

"Hey everyone! It's nice to see you again!" I said, walikng up towards them.

"Yep," said Earl. "I was just telling Joy all about you two and how you managed to get here."

"So, is it really true that you two are from... Team Galactic?" She said that last part in a whisper as to not attract attention to us.

"Ahhh... yeah, we were. But not anymore. We're going on our own journey." said Allison.

"I see... righting the wrongs you may have caused, that sort of thing?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Well... a part of it is like that." I was thinking about Xavier when I said that. The kid still doesn't know that his parents are still alive. How would I even be able to find him? Well... I could ask everyone I see about a ninja living among them, but they'll just think I'm crazy for asking such a thing. I'll handle it when the time comes, I guess.

"Mommy told me that you use a lot of Steel and Bug-type Pokemon, " explained Abby. "Can I see some, please?"

You think that with her mother working at a Pokemon Center, she would see all sorts of Pokemon. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to oblige. "Alright, I got one for you." I reached in my pocket and pulled out one of my red-and-white balls, and noticed the imprint of a feather on it. Skarmory. I gave it a light toss in the air and said, "Come on out, Skarmory!"

_PING!_

"_SKAR!"_ Skarmory spread its wings proudly outwards, drawing a bit of a crowd around it. Soala's brown eyes were wide in awe and excitement. "Wow! So this is a Skarmory! I bet I could ride one of these easy!"

"You would have to hang on tight to it," I said. "A typical Skarmory's top speed is around 180 miles per hour."

"Whoa! That's faster than a whole bunch of roller coasters!" she remarked. "I wonder what other kinds of Pokemon are like that?"

"Well, it's about time I get this place open," said Nurse Joy. "Earl, would you turn on the TV, please?"

"Sure honey." I watched as Earl made his way to the television that was seated on a large table. "By the way, Terrence, have you given any thought as to where you will head first?" he asked as he turned it on.

"I haven't really thought about it. I heard that Sinnoh is one of the best places in the world to live in. I just want to travel around and see the whole region for myself," I explained.

"Okay, but let me ask you something... What will you do if you run into Team Galactic again? They will see you as one of their own who broke away in defiance."

I smiled while saying, "I've already made it clear that if I get hassled by them, I will destroy the entire organization. I may be revealed in the process, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. Maybe if I become a hero, they'll let me off with a warning or something. So far the only people in the outside world I know that know the truth about me are you, Nurse Joy, Abby, everyone else at the Valley Windworks, and three other boys." Did I miss anyone? ...Nope, I think that's all so far. "But enough about that for now. I just want to travel around and hone my skills as a Steel-type trainer. And I'll take care of Allison, too."

"I see," said Nurse Joy. "Well, just do your best, and we'll see you later okay?"

"We will, Nurse Joy-- Skarmory, what are you poking me for?"

_"SKAR, SKAR!" _it cried, jutting its beak towards the television screen. I turned to find out what Skarmory wanted me to see...

_"...news flash. We have received word that near all of the major cities of Sinnoh, there have been appearances of Pokemon that are not normally native to the region. Plenty of people in Hearthome City believe it to be the aftermath of the appearance of the multicolored sky emerging from Mt. Coronet. There have been reports of Houndoom on Route 214, and Mareep in the Valley Windworks, among other sightings."_

"Oh, cool! There are new Pokemon near where you go to work, Daddy!" said Abby, who was also watching.

"I know Abby, but where would all of these Pokemon be coming from? A mass introduction of different species of Pokemon just about everywhere? It's very hard to believe." Earl then turned his head to look towards me and Allison. "Was this part of your plan, too?"

"I... we had no idea about this. Really," said Allison. I nodded my head in agreement. _Pokemon showing up all over this region with no prior notice? Team Galactic had no intention of doing anything like this. What if this whole thing _is _the aftermath of Mt. Coronet. Trying to summon legendary Pokemon apparently has more side effects that I thought. Cyrus... did you plan this as well? We shouldn't be messing up the world like this. Eventually the wild Pokemon will adapt to this situation, and some trainers will see it as a blessing. But what if something else happens... something more devastating? If I weren't involved with Team Galactic, I'd probably talk to Saturn about it. He always was the most logical out of all of us... I mean all of the Commanders. Man, I have got to stop thinking like I'm still with them._

_"Oh, wait, there is another brand-new sighting. We take you live to Dusty at Lake Verity in the western part of Sinnoh!"_

_"Thanks, Roy. As you can see behind me, there are hordes of a bug Pokemon called Surskit in this vicinity. Normally, the only Pokemon one would see here are Starly, Psyduck, Magikarp, and Gyrados. So trainers, if you've ever wished to be surrounded by Surskit... or wanted to make a team full of Surskit..." _At which point one of the blue and yellow bug Pokemon landed right on top of its head, giving everyone watching a close-up view.

_"Or wanted to wear them on your head..."_

_"Sur-skit!"_

_"If you're a true viva Surskit sort of trainer, then make your way to Lake Verity right now! That concludes this news flash."_

I looked over towards Allison, who eyes began to sparkle. "Ohhhhhh, it's so CUTE! Terrence, I wanna go catch one!"

"Well then, I guess that'll be our first stop. Lake Verity. How do we get there, Nurse Joy?"

"To get to Lake Verity, you need to head south from here past Jubilife City to Sandgem Town, and then head west past Twinleaf Town. Eventually you'll come up to it."

"All right! We're on our way to Lake Verity, Allison! Our first stop on the Sinnoh Tour!"

"I can hardly wait! We'll be sure to make many new friends along the way! And maybe we'll have a few rivals! We'll have all the quirks of the typical Pokemon trainer's journey!"

"I sure hope so, Allison. I want to challenge a few of the Gyms myself. I guess we should get going since it's still early."

We turned to Nurse Joy, Earl, and Abby. "Thanks for everything, all of you."

"It's no problem," said Nurse Joy. And judging by the smile on her face, she really meant it. "We'll miss you, but please come back soon."

"Yeah, and show me your Pokemon again when you come back!" said Abby.

"Will do, Abby," I confirmed. "Skarmory, return!" Skarmory disappeared inside of its ball in a couple of seconds. "Take care of yourselves."

"See you," chorused Nurse Joy, Earl and Abby as Allison and I made out way out of the Pokemon Center, hoping to get a new addition into Allison's team.


	8. Chapter 8: Plight of the Avenger

**Author's** **Note:**** In all seriousness, I need to update faster...**

**Watching Episodes of Gundam Seed and playing Final Fantasy Tactics A2 has taken up a lot of my time... not to mention school is in session.**

**So anyway, this chapter, will bring about a character mentioned in earlier chapters, as well as a completely new character.**

**Remember, use the three R's. Say it with me: Relax, Read, and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor any licensed trademarks or copyrights associated with it. (Yet! Ha ha ha!) I _do, _however, own any and all OC's mentioned in this story, as they are remnants of my imagination, laid out in writing.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Plight of the Avenger!

2 days later:

"Finally, Lake Verity!"

Two days of traveling from Floraroma Town and Allison and I reach Lake Verity by sunset. The sun, peeking out over the horizon, dyed the landscape with a bright assortment of reds, yellows, and mostly oranges. This would be the kind of thing that would make a good screensaver on those computers at the Pokémon Centers.

I looked down at my new Pokétch, which pinpointed the time: 7:28 p.m. The same Pokétch that I won at Jubilife City in a giveaway sweepstakes with clowns handing out tickets for answering questions correctly. My question was fairly easy. Something about type-matchups. Allison acquired one of those Pokétches too, though her question caused her to struggle a little bit.

"Isn't that a beautiful sunset, Terrence?" Allison said suddenly.

"It does look rather nice," I agreed, looking over to Allison. "However, I know something that's even more beautiful."

"And what would that be?"

I smiled at her. But before I could say, "You," I saw something coming at us from the corner of my eye. Like something was being thrown at us but it was spinning really fast. A weapon? Or maybe even a Pokémon?

Why am I even trying to figure this out now? "Duck!" I told Allison.

"Terrence, why would a duck be more—Aah!" She didn't get to finish her inquiry, because I dragged her down to the ground with me. "Ow… what are you—"

"I told you to duck, Allison!" I scolded. "We're being attacked by someone—or something."

"Is it Team Galactic?" Allison asked.

"I sure hope not," I said, rising to my feet to look in the direction of where the thing was thrown… Wait a minute! It's coming back!? An orange boomerang? Wait a minute… Boomerangs don't stop in midair. And they don't flip over to become a star with a red core at its center.

"_Hyah!"_

A Staryu! But what's it doing here? Isn't it supposed to be near the sea or something? This is _Lake _Verity. Barring that, it must belong to someone. But not Team Galactic; they don't normally use Staryu. And Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn don't have one, either.

I'll tell you one thing, though: I won't be defeated by anyone, no matter what they're after me for! "Allison, I'm going to battle this Pokémon. Keep a lookout for anything suspicious, ok?" I asked.

"Okay, Terrence. I'll let you know if there's anything happening."

Okay. With Allison watching my back, I can battle with full concentration. I reached in my left pocket, which contained two of my four Pokémon. _Which one of you guys will be lucky enough to take this Staryu down?_ I pulled one Pokéball out and looked to see… a pincer engraved on it. _Ah, yes, Scizor. The cool one._I tossed it forward at the Staryu. "Scizor, show 'em what you got!"

_PING! "Scizor!" _

The Staryu, almost instantly, began to spin rapidly towards Scizor. "Scizor, grab it if you can!" But the Staryu was approaching really fast. Scizor had to duck the first time. When the Staryu made its roundabout trip, Scizor managed to grip one of its tentacles with a pincer.

"Good job! Now, use Metal—"

Before I could finish, Staryu pointed one tentacle towards Scizor and shot a stream of bubbles right in its face, causing Scizor to lose its grip on it. Staryu, now free and with its core glowing yellow, proceeded with a Swift attack.

"Scizor, keep using X-Scissor to nullify the attack!"

"_Sci! Zor! Sci! Zor!" _Continuously crossing and uncrossing its arms in an X pattern, Scizor managed to dispel the brunt of the attack. But before the attack ended, Staryu was already making a u-turn away from us to build power for another high-speed tackle. "Scizor, grab it again!" I commanded. "And this time, throw it immediately into one of those trees over there!"

Scizor caught it with another pincer again. Then using Staryu's velocity against it, Scizor spun in a quick circle twice and launched Staryu in the opposite direction into one of the trees I had pointed to.

THUD!

Staryu collapsed at the base of the tree, its red core blinking. "Excellent job, Scizor!" Then I turned back to Allison. "Have you found anything yet?"

"No, nothing." Allison said, shaking her head.

Then a red beam of light emerged from one of the trees, engulfing Staryu, and then retreating from whence it came.

"Except that," Allison suggested.

"Come on, we can't let them get away!" I said helping Allison to her feet. "Scizor, return!" When Scizor returned to its Pokéball, Allison and I made a mad dash to where the red beam came from.

"Whoever it is can't be far. We're going to find out what the hell—Huh? What the hell!?"

"Terrence, I… can't move!"

"That makes two of us…!" I'm being held in place by something, and so is Allison. _Come on, body… Move! Damn it! _Suddenly, my body did move, but not in the way I wanted it to. I didn't ask to be launched backwards, yelling through the air and landing hard on my back. I tried to get up, but was hindered by Allison, who found her way awkwardly on top of me by similar means. After gently nudging Allison off of me, I rose to my feet, grabbing my back, and screamed:

"There's only one person I know who has telekinesis and a personal vendetta against me! Come on out Xavier, and face me like a real ninja!"

"…Real ninjas use stealth and the shadows to maximize their lethality," A voice suddenly spoke. "But since you insist…" And Xavier appeared from the side from where I was looking; purple ninja gear, gleaming headband, piercing green eyes and with Pokeballs at the ready. "Team Galactic Commander, my name is indeed Xavier, but you can call me 'the bane of your existence.' For the death of my parents, you and your grunt will join them in their watery grave!"

"She's not my grunt, she's my girlfriend."

"Whatever. Using camouflage to hide the fact that you're with them, that's sharp. But I'm the only one who can see through it."

"We're not in camouflage. And we're _not_ with Team Galactic," I explained. Looking backwards, I saw Allison rise up and dust herself off. "Will you just calm down and listen? I just want to say one thing to you, Xavier."

"Your last words had better be good ones!"

Damn, kid, you really are hell bent on killing us, aren't you? The boy who saved my life is now more than likely to end it. …What can I tell him? I have to let him know that everything is not lost for him. So, I took a solemn bow…

"Thank you…"

"What?" I couldn't see his face because of my bow, but his voice was faltering. "W-What are you thanking me for? Sending you to the next world?"

"No, kid. Thanks for saving my life a few days ago."

"How did I save your life? Like I would even want to! I never saw you when I raided Galactic headquarters."

"I remember seeing you," I said, returning to an upright position. "I was at Mt. Coronet the day you battled Commander Saturn and released Uxie, Azelf and Mespirit. Right after you freed them, they teleported to Mt. Coronet to stop Dialga and Palkia from destroying the Spear Pillar. Had they not gotten there in time, Allison and I would not be here facing you right now, and Cyrus, my former boss, would not be alive either. I knew it was you, because Uxie showed me flashbacks of what happened inside Galactic Headquarters."

Xavier's eyes furrowed as he took in my explanation. "So, you're telling me that by foiling Team Galactic's plan, I saved its boss from certain doom as well?"

"That's right, Xavier. Also, I have one—"

"Are you _serious!?_" he shouted suddenly, gripping his head with both his hands and growling in frustration. "I actually did more harm than good! Now that guy is free to kill more people like my parents!"

"Xavier, listen to me. Your parents—"

"Grrr. Next time, I'm taking the guy down face-to-face!" It was no use. Xavier, in his blind rage, wouldn't hear me out. "I'll make them all suffer, especially that Mars chick! When I'm done with _her_, her hair won't be the only thing that's red!" What would it take to calm this guy down?

"Dude!" I shouted. "Your parents are _alive!_"

Xavier suddenly stopped rambling to look me dead in the eyes. "What was that?" he growled.

"He said your parents are still alive," repeated Allison.

Xavier's eyes began to harden into a cold stare. "I know my parents are alive… in my memory. And yet you have the nerve to tell me that they're still in this world?" Allison and I nodded our heads in unison. "I hope you know I don't believe you."

"I never expected you to," I reasoned. "Your parents are still more than likely in Veilstone City. Alive. This came directly from the red-head's mouth."

"You liars!" Xavier's outburst came accompanied with an outburst of psychic power, scattering some fallen leaves in a circle around him. "Now I _really_ don't believe you! How could the one who killed my parents insist that she never did?" Tears began to spring from his eyes and he did nothing to keep them from falling. "My parents are right behind you—in the bottom of that lake! You know it! I know it! And you will join them shortly! And I'll drag Mars, the boss, that pointy-haired Saturn, and everyone else I may have missed so they can join you!!" He stopped rambling to catch his breath. But you could tell how angry he was by the way he was huffing and puffing. "…Noooo. No, no, no… How about I make _you_ suffer before you die?"

I didn't like how Xavier's mood shifted from sorrowful to vengeful. "What… do you have in mind?" I questioned.

"How about… I make _you_ feel what it's like to lose someone important!"

Oh, no. Allison! Xavier brought his hand forward, facing Allison and lifted her off the ground. "Terrence, help!"

"Let her go, Xavier! She has nothing to do with this! Why are you targeting her?"

"Because I can do that. Do you know what it's like to lose a person? Matter of fact, do you even _care _when you lose a person?"

"Of course I care! I would do everything in my power to keep from losing people!"

"Allison is probably the most important person you have right now. If I drown her, then you can wallow in misery before you join her. You can truly feel my pain before you die. So she has _everything _to do with this as far as I'm concerned."

_Damn you, Xavier. I know you're just a kid, but I'll be damned to hell if I let anyone take Allison away from me. I'd rather go first!_

"If you spare Allison, I'll die in her place."

…

…Oh, crap, did I really offer myself up to die?

Willingly?

"Seriously?" Xavier asked.

Allison gasped. "Terrence, don't do it. _Please_ don't do it! You have so much ahead of yourself! My life's not worth it!"

"That's why I'm doing this. Because your life _is _worth it… to me. You, sexy, have even more to accomplish than I do. I love you. To prove that, I'll make the ultimate sacrifices if I have to. I'm not going to lose you, Allison."

"I don't want to lose _you_, Terrence," Allison replied. Hearing that made me feel so appreciated.

Turning back to the ninja, I said, "Drop her. On dry land. And then we'll have a one-on-one battle. I lose… you drown me."

"And if I lose?"

I hadn't thought about that. "Um… hold on a second. If you lose—"

"There's no way I'm going to lose in the first place. So you can skip that part." Xavier ceded his invisible grip on Allison, then reached in his vest and pulled out an Ultra Ball. "Are you ready to die—lose, whatever?"

"I'm not going to die, Xavier. Especially not by your hands. Old age is going to kill me." I reached in my right pocket and took out my red-and-white Pokeball with the feather engravement ." _Skarmory, my first and most trustworthy Pokémon, I'm counting on you. My life depends on this battle for the second time in four days. Huh. This situation is just like Mt. Coronet, only with trees and water. And a kid who's not even half Cyrus' age trying to send me to my doom. It's amazing how many people want me dead all of a sudden._

I hope this isn't the last time I'll be able to do this. "Skarmory, I choose you!"

_PING!_ _"SKAAAAARRR!"_

Xavier looked at Skarmory for a minute, then reached inside of his vest and pulled out a Pokedex. "So, that's a Skarmory, huh?" Pressing a few buttons on it, he began to scan for information about it.

"_Scanning… scanning… scan complete. Skarmory, the Armor Bird Pokémon. Despite being clad entirely in iron-hard armor, it flies at speeds over 180 mph."_

"Man, that's fast," Xavier mused. Putting the Pokedex back in his vest, he turned to me and said, "You must really like Steel-types, huh?"

"Yeah, I do. Skarmory was the first friend I made on my journey."

"Well, if it isn't up to snuff, you'll be on your way to your _final _journey!" Xavier retorted. With his arms extended straight forward clutching the Ultra Ball, he shot it from his open palms, kinda like a Lucario's Aura Sphere.

"Do it! Medicham!"

_PING!_

"_Cham! Medi-cham!"_The slim figure, the red hair that kinda resembled Jupiter's hair, except with three yellow dots at the front, and the red and yellow legs. Medicham was swaying, ready to attack or defend.

"Xavier, I won't hold back, you hear me?"

"Your life is on the line! You had better _not_ hold back!"

"_SKAR?" _Skarmory whirled its head towards me as if wanting to understand the situation. "Okay Skarmory, it's like this. The karate kid over there—"

"NINJA!"

"Ninja, whatever," I corrected. "He wants to avenge his parents. Seeing as I used to be a member of Team Galactic, he apparently thinks he has the right to end my life. And on top of that, he doesn't believe me when I say his parents are alive. I need you to knock some sense into him by defeating his Medicham. If you can't… chances are you'll never see me again." I stopped for a moment to think about my situation. "I know it's a lot to put on you, but you were my first Pokémon. You have stuck by me through thick and thin for the last six years. I trust you. Right now, you are my only hope to survive—"

"Will you shut up and battle already!" Xavier interrupted, his tone growing restless.

"Whatever, dude," I scoffed. "Skarmory, you ready?"

"_SKAR!"_

"Alright then, here we go! Start off with Aerial Ace!" Skarmory went airborne, did a loop to gain speed and flew quickly at Medicham.

"Detect!" cried Xavier.

Medicham's eyes glowed green suddenly, and did a backbend at the very last second to avoid the Aerial Ace attack. "Impossible!" I cried. "Skarmory was going too fast! Aerial Ace never misses! Ever!"

"First time for everything," taunted Xavier. "Detect heightens Medicham's spiritual power, enabling it to avoid any attack, even the ones that are so-called guaranteed to hit! Medicham, use Hi Jump Kick when it comes back around!"

"Do another loop!" I commanded to Skarmory. Skarmory, who was already on the way back to face Medicham, didn't register the command in time as Medicham's foot quickly connected with its head. Skarmory was knocked haphazardly into a tree.

THUD!

Allison gasped.

I had to pick my jaw up from the floor.

Xavier cried, "Game over, Commander! Your Skarmory suffered the same fate as my Staryu! Knocked out into a tree! What goes around comes around."

_Skarmory! Get up! You can't be defeated that easily! _But I knew inside that Skarmory would need a lot of time to recover from it. I ran up to Skarmory, to check its heartbeat, and was elated to know it was still alive. But then, I realized, Skarmory lost the battle… in less than 15 seconds, no less. _My_ heartbeat won't exist much longer!

"Skarmory... return..." So this is how it really ends, huh? Death by drowning. I don't know how to swim, and even if I did know how, Xavier's psychic grip would keep me from moving.

After Xavier recalled his Medicham back to its Pokeball, I turned to face him and said, "It's over, Xavier. You won, I lost… I… have to... die."

"No!" Allison rushed over to where I was kneeling, tears trailing past her as she sped past the ninja to my side. "You and I were supposed to live out our lives together," she cried, tightening her grip on me. "You can't die like this, not by him!"

Turning to Xavier, she said, "How do you manage to live with yourself?! How do you _sleep _at night? We left the syndicate on our own free will! We were going to explore Sinnoh and then maybe settle someplace, but you and your personal vendetta have to shatter our dreams! Terrence is my first love. You can't do this to him! You can't… you can't…" Her voice cracked, and was replaced by a series of wails while clinging on to me as if _she _would die if she let go.

"Shhh, Allison, it'll be okay," I soothed, my hands cradling her blonde head. How the hell was it going to be okay?! I'm about to die, Allison will be left alone, Team Galactic will undoubtedly come up with another plan to rebuild the world, and Xavier isn't convinced of the truth. There must be something I can do. Something at all.

Think, Terrence.

…

…

…

Think, damn it!

…

…

…I got it!

"Xavier… wait a minute."

"What? Why?"

"Listen, I know you hate me for whatever reason, but believe me, I'm telling the truth when I say your parents are alive. If you promise not to kill me, I'll go back to Team Galactic's Headquarters in Veilstone and rescue your parents myself. If I come back empty handed… then you can kill me."

"Do you really think I'm going to let you go free? You really are pathetic, trying to bargain your way out of death."

"Damn it, Xavier! This isn't a bargain!" I shouted. Calm down, Terrence. Anger is only going to make things worse. "Ever since you sent Justin and Carlton to battle us at that hotel near Lake Valor and I found out about your situation from Carlton, I was concerned about you and your parents. I still am. I swear on my life that I was hoping to seek you out so that you could have just a tiny bit of hope concerning them.

"…I didn't realize how much of a negative impact Team Galactic had on so many people. What if there were others like you who had loved ones forcefully taken from them, just as you attempted to take Allison from me? When you threatened to kill her, I got that message loud and clear. I felt your pain. It was horrible. You shouldn't have to go through life bearing such pain any longer.

"So how about it? Let me get your parents back for you. Allison and I owe you our lives anyway. Let us repay you so you can stop this vengeance thing. You're way too young for it, psychic powers or not."

Xavier cried, "Don't tell me what I'm too young for! But everything you just said, it was the honest truth. I shouldn't be living like this, all vengeful and stuff. You think I _like_ trying to kill people? If you want to know the honest truth… I wasn't really planning to kill either of you. I just pretended so I could make you suffer; I wanted you to voice your regrets.

"…I'm sorry. You're not the one I'm supposed to come down upon, either."

Either? …Oh, that's right. The kid also gave Saturn a taste of his wrath almost a week ago.

"Alright, I'll tell you what," Xavier reasoned. "You can come and help me rescue my parents."

"Thank you Xavier… Wait a minute! You said 'come and help you?' Does that mean—"

"Yeah. I was planning to raid their HQ again. Plus, I'm coming with you to make sure that you don't pull any tricks."

"Does that mean you're not going to ask my permission _again_ this time?"

…Hold up. Who the hell said that!?

Xavier turned in the direction of the speaker as a sandy-haired young man who I supposed was in his mid-twenties emerged from the forest and into the clearing. I have no idea what the guy's obsession with white was; every piece of clothing he had on him was white. One of his eyes was sandy-brown, just like his hair, and the other was exceptionally larger than the other and completely glass... No, wait, he's wearing a monocle over his right eye! It's usually rich, stuck-up killjoys who wear monocles. But… this is weird. This guy is dressed in normal clothes, but he's wearing a monocle?

The guy was just calm as he stood there looking at Xavier, and on occasion, myself and Allison. I concluded that if this guy wasn't Xavier's dad (he did seem to be a bit too young to be the guy's dad anyway), then maybe he was the kid's brother, or maybe an uncle.

"Joe," Xavier asked, "how long have you been there?"

"Actually, I just got back from Twinleaf Town after picking up supplies," replied Joe, motioning to his backpack, which was also white. He raised a pointed finger towards me and Allison. "Who are these people?"

I stepped forward and cleared my throat. "Hey. My name is Terrence, and this is Allison."

"They're former members of Team Galactic," Xavier explained. Joe took his backpack off and took a defensive stance immediately. "And just what do you want with Xavier?" he said. "He has nothing left but his Pokémon and his life. And I'll make sure you don't take either of them!"

"Relax, dude," I told Joe. "All we want to do is repay Xavier for saving our lives."

Joe took a glance at Xavier. "I thought you hated Team Galactic. What could possess you to save their lives?"

"At the time, I didn't even know it myself. Remember when I raided Galactic's Headquarters?"

"Yes, I do, and I'm still appalled about your recklessness. You could've been killed, Xavier! Or forced to be a test subject! You know how some people are about your telekinesis! And the worst part was that I, who took it upon myself to become your guardian, was nowhere near to protect you!"

The kid's guardian! Why didn't I think of that? I guess Xavier had no more living relatives, so this Joe guy had taken the responsibility of taking Xavier into his own home.

"But I had to find my parents!" Xavier pleaded. "If you were me, you would've done everything you could to get them back! You can't deny it!"

"…Xavier, you know how I feel about my parents. Even so… there is truth to what you are saying."

"See? I'm right! But you know as well as I do that my parents were nowhere in there, but I freed those three legendary Pokémon. Turns out the trio went directly to the Spear Pillar, where those two were," Xavier explained, pointing a finger at the two of us. "Their boss— I mean, _former _boss— had summoned Dialga and Palkia there."

Joe's eyes widened slightly in shock, almost as if was what he was expecting, but was still surprised to hear it. "So that was the reason that multi-colored sky appeared suddenly," said Joe, knowingly. "A rift between time and space happening in this world. Because of that, there were plenty of wild Pokémon just showing up here out of nowhere. While I was at Twinleaf, I heard on the news that there was a bunch of Surskit at this very lake."

"Yes," said Allison. "I'm here to catch one myself."

"Oh no, you are mistaken, lady. I just wanted to see it for myself. I've lived in this region for 5 years and traveled almost everywhere here, and not once have I seen a wild Surskit."

"Can I finish my story now?" groaned Xavier. "Anyway, Dialga and Palkia were about to blast the Spear Pillar, when Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf appeared and sent Dialga and Palkia back to their own dimensions."

"Yeah. Cyrus was… well, not happy, I wound up battling him, and it ended in a tie. With that, I disbanded my entire division, and left the Spear Pillar." I finished. "So you're this kid's guardian, am I right Joe?" I asked of the white-clothed individual.

"Yes, it's very hard trying to keep up with Xavier. With his telekinesis, he has a lot of potential to do good— or evil— in this world. Assuming from what I heard before I revealed myself, you say his parents are alive?"

"I hope he's right," cried Xavier. "If not, he says I get to kill him."

"Kill him!? Xavier, I don't care how badly you want revenge. Killing people is out of the question! You've never done it before, so don't start now."

"Yeah, I know, Joe. To tell the truth, I wasn't really going to kill him anyway—"

"_GRRRRAAAAARRRRRR!"_ The sudden roar caused all four of us to look at the lake, and beheld a long, scaly, water dragon not ten feet from where we were.

"G-G-GYARADOS!!" shrieked Allison, quivering behind me for cover.

"Well, well, it looks like we have some unwanted company. Let me take care of this one." Joe reached into his back pocket and pulled out a Premier Ball. Dude… even his Pokéballs were white. Mostly.

"Go! Porygon-Z!"

_PING!_

"_Z! Woo-hoooooo!" _

Porygon…Z? What's with all of these new evolutions I know nothing about!? Let's see… pink and blue egg-shaped body, with thin ovals for arms and a tail… onion-shaped head with an oval beak protruding from it… and black and yellow eyes.

…Nope, never seen it before. Plus that voice... it sounded mechanical and yet... childish at the same time.

"Alright, Z! Conversion to Type number two!" The pink hues of Porygon-Z's body changed into a bright yellow luster, so its complexion was now yellow and blue.

"Discharge!"

"_So much for you!" _Porygon-Z unleashed charged bolts from its entire body, frying the Gyarados on contact. It wasn't even three seconds before an explosion occurred and black smoke appeared where the Gyarados was. When the smoked cleared, Gyarados was nowhere to be seen, but a few ripples left in the water told the entire story.

"Good job, Z!" Joe applauded.

"_Victoryyyy! La la laa…"_

"Wow, your Porygon-Z is so powerful!" remarked Allison. "So was that first move an attempt to power up?"

"In a sense, yes," Joe explained. "The attack Conversion, as you may know, changes the Pokémon's type to match one of its own moves. So when the Pokémon uses an attack move of the same type as itself, the move's power increases by 50 percent due to STAB."

"STAB?" I inquired. "What does that mean?"

"STAB stands for '**S**ame **T**ype **A**ttack **B**onus.' Also, if you add in Porygon-Z's ability, Adaptability, that increases attack moves that match the Pokémon's type by another 50 percent, that means I can make any of its moves _double_ in power."

"There's a similar thing with my Medicham," Xavier added. "Its ability is Pure Power! That doubles the power of Medicham's physical moves right off the bat, which is probably why Medicham knocked out Skarmory in one hit. Also, Skarmory got kicked in the head. Not even a Steel-type can withstand that when hit hard enough."

"Uh…Good point, kid." So these guys can increase their attack power with little to no effort. Dude, these guys could clean house in a tag battle.

"GRRRAAAAARRRR!"

"EEEK! Terrence, we're not d-d-done yet!" shouted Allison as three more Gyarados appeared from the lake surface.

"_Uh-oh! Trouble!" _voiced Porygon-Z.

"The one I defeated probably sent for backup," declared Joe. "I may need some help on this one. Will all of you lend me a hand?"

"Of course. I need to get some training in anyway," I replied.

"I-I'll try my best," mustered Allison.

"These guys are over and done with!" cried Xavier.

"Good then," said Joe. "Everyone, follow my—"

_PING! _One of Joe's Pokeballs suddenly burst open without warning. "Oh, boy," said Joe.

"_Clefable!" _

"Clefable, you're going to use Metronome again, aren't you?" groaned Joe, sounding like he's been through this a hundred times before.

"_Clefable!"_ it said, nodding in reply. The pink-bodied, pointy-eared, winged Pokémon raised a pointed finger on each hand and began chanting while waving them back and forth.

"_Clefaaable! Clefaaable! Clefaaable! Clefaaable!" _All three of the Gyarados, oddly enough, were swaying their heads in time with Clefable's rhythm. As were the rest of us.

Ten seconds.

…Fifteen seconds.

"_Clefable!"_

Clefable radiated a faint light, and the air surrounding us became somewhat distorted.

"Uh, Joe, what's going on?"

Joe had a smile on his face. Whether that boded good or ill was beyond me.

"Hey, Joe!"

Joe looked towards me as if proudly confirming the ultimate truth to the universe.

"We're about to be Teleported."

"What?"

_WHOOSH!_


	9. Chapter 9: Our Minds Are Set

**_Author's Note: _Why does it take me so long to update! **

**So much has happened between finishing this chapter and posting the last. For starters, I am now officially old! ...I mean legal! I turned 21 in November, and I'm currently writing a new story called _Starf University: Chronicles of the Beginning!_ Chapter 1 is already up. If you're interested, I'll let you know right now that it is "M" rated. **

**But this doesn't mean that _Escape from Team Galactic!_ is going to fall by the wayside forgotten. I've updated, that's enough proof. **

**Alright then. Juuhachigou-eighteen, Blake Wilson, Fallen Vangaurd, SunKat411, neoblacksmith17, DeepFire, and everyone else who has read my story... prepare for the next chapter! As always, utilize the three R's:**

**Relax!**

**Read!**

**Review!**

**_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Pokemon, for the ninth time this story. Only my OCs. The chances of me owning Pokemon are equal to 9 divided by 0. It's impossible to divide by 0! Get it?**

* * *

Chapter 9: Our Minds Are Set

"Whaaaaaaaaa—"

THUD!

Damn, that hurt. I can't feel anything from my upper body down. I looked up from where I landed, and found the cause of my predicament: Joe, Allison, and Xavier in a pile on top of me. That Clefable's Teleport coming off of a Metronome attack against those Gyarados…

Huh? Those Gyarados! That's right; we're being attacked!

"Guys, get off me!" I screamed frantically. "Or they'll blast us all into nothing!"

Xavier rolled off the human pile clumsily. "We're not at Lake Verity anymore, Terrence. See for yourself," he said, rising to his feet and dusting himself off. "Isn't that right, Porygon-Z?"

"_Beep! Clear here!"_ it replied, floating next to him.

Allison rolled off next, and Joe got off of me carefully while checking his monocle. Everyone seemed to be in one piece, and Clefable and Porygon-Z were tending to Joe as he got up. After checking to see if anything was broken, I surveyed my surroundings. Let's see… dirt road cutting through a forest, and a town at a distance. I could also hear water running somewhere nearby, but couldn't pinpoint the location.

"I know that town anywhere," remarked Joe, looking at the far-off buildings. "You know where we are, Xavier."

"Yep. Solaceon Town! Your Clefable teleported us home!" shouted Xavier. "Well, not exactly _home_, but… you know."

"We're near Solaceon Town? Oh, man. I never got to catch a Surskit back there," whined Allison. "Terrence, promise me that we'll go back one of these days, please?"

"Sure thing, sexy." I reassured her. Turning to Joe and Xavier, I asked, "So this is where you guys live?"

"That's right. I had moved to Solaceon Town about five years ago," Joe replied. Well, wasn't this a surprise. I thought since Joe was rich or something, he would live someplace… bigger or fancier, I guess. Maybe he's not really rich, but acts like it. Who knows? "With some of the money I saved up, I bought a nice, modest house and provided most of the funding for the Pokémon Day-Care Center stationed here."

…I take back my earlier statement. Joe's rich, end of story.

"Joe is probably the richest person _in _Solaceon Town," added Xavier. "But he doesn't flaunt his wealth around to get his way. He doesn't mind getting his hands dirty when he needs to in order to help people, either. One time I saw him grab a Tauros by the horns while helping people corral them. He held on for a good fifteen minutes until the Tauros grew tired."

"I tell you, that was the wildest ride of my life. Literally." said Joe, chuckling as he recalled the past incident. "Later on, I befriended the Tauros and asked the ranch owner if I could possibly take him with me on my travels. He's the most recent Pokémon I have out of the three in my party."

"What about you, Xavier? How did you get to know Joe?" asked Allison.

"Well, I got introduced to him when my parents decided to take a trip. Joe was offering to babysit children when he first got established because he wasn't sure what exactly he could do around here. My parents gave him a chance, though. He has a Nintendo Wii, and a whole case of Technical Machines! He's also not a half-bad trainer."

"Not a half-bad trainer!? Five years and that's all I amount to? Show some more respect," cried Joe with a playful tone in his voice.

"Yeah, I know. Joe's more than 'not a half-bad trainer.' He would always give me tips and advice every now and then during training sessions."

"When did he find out about your psychic powers?" asked Allison. "Was he shocked at first?" I was curious to know the answer to this myself.

"Well, yeah. One time I was practicing throwing rocks, pretending they were shuriken. He was surprised that I could hit any target without even trying. He kept telling me that I was psychic. I let him know that he was right if he promised not to tell anyone else, especially not my parents. He hasn't, and I'm grateful for it.

"So far he, Justin, Carlton, and you and Terrence are the only ones who about my powers. Oh, and Saturn, too."

_Saturn. _"Hey, dude," I addressed to Xavier, with the mention of Saturn's name sparking something in my head. "You and I should have another battle. If you're going to face Saturn again, and maybe even Mars, Jupiter, and Cyrus as well, we need to make sure that everyone is in great shape. And not just the Pokémon, either. Trainers need to have a sharp mind when battling too."

Xavier's lips crept up into a slow smile. "That would be cool. But first, can we get home? I need to rest."

"I agree, we could all use a rest," remarked Joe. "My house is in the center of town. Once we get there, I'll be sure to set aside a room for the two of you. You guys will be temporary guests in my house until we find Xavier's mother and father."

"Thank you so much!" replied Allison.

"_Party! Whoo-hoooooo!"_

"No, Z, not yet," Joe chuckled. "We party when we are finished with the mission. I promise." He turned to his Clefable. "Thanks a lot, Clefable. That was a lucky Teleport you pulled off."

"_Clefable fable!"_

"All right, you guys. Return!" Joe commanded, and Clefable and Porygon-Z were returned to their Pokeballs. "Let's be on our way to Solaceon Town." And with that, the four of us were walking at a leisurely pace set by Joe to his house.

* * *

Two Hours Later…

"Ready?" I asked.

"Set!" responded Xavier.

"Go!" we both cried as the two of us threw our Pokeballs towards the center of the road.

_PING! "Scizor!"_

_PING! "Medicham!"_

"All right guys, this will be a one-on-one singles match," declared Joe, our makeshift referee. "As judge, I expect a clean fight and will be the one who ultimately decides whether a Pokémon is unable to battle. So trainers, on my mark… get set… battle!"

"Scizor, let's start off with an X-Scissor!" I knew Medicham was powerful on the offensive, so by using a powerful attack, I would get it off balance and continue with smaller attacks afterward.

"Medicham, match Scizor's attack with a Force Palm!" Medicham rushed forward, gathering energy in one of its palms before thrusting it forward, meeting the brunt of Scizor's attack. The result: an explosion that caused both to slide back to their original starting positions.

So much for the power game. Looks like Xavier is using the exact same strategy.

Back to square one. "Use Focus Energy to power up!" Scizor closed its eyes and crossed its arms so that its pincers were diagonal to each other, and began building up a yellow aura.

"Psychic!"

What!?

By commanding Scizor to not do anything pertaining to movement, Xavier and Medicham took full advantage! Scizor's aura changed from yellow to blue as he was lifted slowly up into the air. I'm not sure Scizor realized if he was levitating by otherworldly forces or not; it must've been really deep in focus.

"Scizor, open your eyes!" And as it did…

"Launch!"

Scizor was instantly launched high into the sky, the aura around it disappearing. If I don't give it an order soon, Scizor will go into freefall!

Nice surprise by Medicham. Or not-so-nice surprise, it you look at it from Scizor's point of view.

"Medicham, finish this with a Hi Jump Kick!"

Gotta improvise! Gotta improvise! Gotta…

_Got it!_

"Use Iron Head! Full speed ahead!"

Whose attack is the most powerful? Medicham has its ability, Pure Power, so a Hi Jump Kick will really hurt someone. On the other hand, Scizor is a Steel-type. And it has the advantage of falling, thereby picking up speed, on the way towards Medicham. Not to mention its attack is the same type as itself. Getting hit by anything like that will send somebody out of commission… well, indefinitely.

Xavier must have realized this, for he cried out, "Detect!" while Medicham was about to kick Scizor… or suffer a lot of pain in the process. Medicham's eyes turned green again and with blinding speed, did a midair dodge to the right much like some of the characters in Super Smash Brothers do sometimes.

Before Scizor hit the ground hard and suffer from its own attack, I commanded, "Roll once you hit the ground!" Scizor did so twice, leaving a trail of dust along the way and stood up, turning around to face Medicham.

Man, this kid's Pokémon was something else. Scizor barely laid a scratch on it!

"Medicham, use Force Palm like before!" Medicham gathered up energy in its hand and charged forward, at which point I told Scizor…

"Counter with _two _Metal Claws!" When Medicham got close and thrust its palm outward, Scizor used its left pincer to swat away the attack, and then brought its right pincer forward in a downward arc right on top of Medicham's head, knocking it out.

Joe took a quick moment to take in the situation before replying, "Medicham is unable to battle. The winner is Scizor!"

"All right. Way to go Scizor!"

"_Zor!"_

"Are you kidding? I lost! That almost never happens!" Xavier cried. "Oh, well. Next time will be different. Medicham, return!" Recalling his Medicham, Xavier walked up to me and said, "You're not half-bad, you know! As a battler, anyway."

"I try," I simply say. "Scizor, return." After Scizor disappeared into its Pokéball, I turned to Joe, saying, "How would you like to battle?"

"Me? Well, you did say everyone does need their mind sharpened. I guess that goes for your girlfriend as well. How good is she?"

"I'm an okay battler, I guess," Allison replied. "Ever since I met Terrence though, I only had to battle twice; one time was against him, but that battle wasn't actually finished. So, I'm not really that sure about how good I am."

"How would you like to find out?" challenged Joe. "A one-on-one battle with me, with Terrence as judge."

"But you seem all knowledgeable about battling, talking about STAB and all. I'm not sure I can beat you."

"Perhaps. This is all the more reason for you to battle me. If you don't test your mettle against people who you think are better than you, then you'll never improve."

"Joe has a point, Allison," I remarked. "Not saying that you aren't good now, but you need to battle all kinds of people and Pokémon to see how good you really are. Go ahead and accept the challenge, and have faith in yourself."

"Thanks, Terrence," said Allison. "Joe, I won't hold back!"

"Good to hear. Now let's put some space between us."

Joe and Allison walked in opposite directions until both agreed that there was sufficient space between them for battle.

Oh, that's right, I'm referee! "Ahem. The following is a one-on-one singles battle between Allison of Pastoria City and Joe of Solaceon Town! Both trainers will use only one Pokémon in this match. Trainers, be respectful, battle hard, and have a blast! Set, go!"

"Heracross! Go!"

_PING!_

"_Heracross!"_

"A Fighting-type! Playing strengths, are we? But this won't be easy. Clefable, you're up!"

_PING!_

"_Clefable!"_

"Heracross, start off with a Horn Attack!" Heracross lowered its head and flew towards Clefable with full intent to ram its long horn into Clefable.

"Double Team."

Before Heracross could land the hit, Clefable created two more copies of itself. Heracross flew straight through the Clefable in the middle, which disappeared.

"Heracross, U-Turn!" Heracross made a quick arc to attempt a hit the one on the right…

"Counter with Meteor Mash!" Clefable drew back its right hand, which began to glow white, and thrust forward, meeting Heracross' horn. Both Pokémon drew back in a stalemate.

"Clefable, use Metronome and let's see what happens!" commanded Joe. Sure enough, both Clefables (I couldn't tell which one was a fake, myself) raised their hands, pointed fingers upward, and began waving them side to side while chanting.

"Heracross, Endure! We don't know what will happen!" Heracross took a defensive stance and began glowing blue.

…

Five seconds…

…

Ten seconds…

…

Fifteen seconds...

…

The Clefables stopped chanting suddenly.

…

Eyes closed…

…

A yawn from each one…

…

…

…Snoring.

…

…

They drifted off to sleep!?

I just stood there, jaw dropped in disbelief. Of all the things to do in a battle, Clefable and its copy were _sleeping_. Standing upright. I was expecting an attack… like a legendary attack or something. Something that was actually worth the wait. Well, it did get a laugh out of Xavier, who apparantly thought it hilarious that a Pokemon should fall asleep in the middle of a battle.

After a few moments had passed, it was Joe who broke the silence. "Allison… why aren't you attacking?"

"Huh? I…I couldn't bring myself to attack a sleeping Pokémon," Allison stuttered. "That's not like me."

"Hmm. Well, let's say that I was a part of Team Galactic, and I deemed you a threat while your Pokémon was asleep in the middle of a battle. I probably wouldn't hesitate to finish you off."

"What? What are you saying?" asked Allison.

"I'm saying that pretty soon we will be facing Team Galactic ourselves," explained Joe. "I'm pretty sure that they are supposed to complete their missions, whatever happens. You must be of the same mindset, for we are setting off to rescue Xavier's parents. Am I not right, Terrence?"

"…Yeah. You're right," I said, head held down slightly. Joe's recollection made me remember when I had to battle those three trainers at Eterna City. After I defeated them, we were to ship them off to Mt. Coronet and leave them to die while bounded by those ropes. I hope they all survived somehow. Some of the opposition they led was forced to join, like Charlie who always argued with Janice.

Supposed to complete the mission, whatever happens?

…What if whatever happens leads to death, even for the opposition?

I wouldn't be to forgive myself if a human or a Pokémon died during a mission I carried out. Still holds true now.

Allison, because she is my girl.

Xavier, because I owe him a huge debt for saving my life.

Joe, because he cares about others enough to protect them from harm, regardless of social status.

My Pokémon, because they depend on me, just as I depend on them.

Their Pokémon, because I'm sure they feel the same way with their trainers.

"Actually," I began, "I take that back. What I just said."

"Terrence? Are you okay, sweetie?" cooed Allison, coming over to comfort me.

"Yes… and no," I replied, head hung slightly down. "Joe said that we should carry out the mission, whatever happens. But, Joe… what if someone dies or gets captured? Does the mission still take first priority?"

"…It shouldn't. Most people care about those who undertake goals and missions with them."

"That's right. It's probably ridiculous to bring it up, but I don't want any of us to die. Those who cross Team Galactic are seen as a… mark, for lack of a better word," I explained. "In most cases, they will be hunted down and simply disappear, if you get my drift. I couldn't handle it if that were to happen to one of us. I'm the one who got everyone in this in the first place, so it's a heavy burden for me. I'm just now realizing how _much_ of a burden it is."

"Terrence, try not to worry so much, okay? Joe, Xavier, and I will promise to be careful during our time in Galactic Headquarters. And we will also not kill any Pokémon or people."

"I don't know about me, Allison," said Xavier, who was quiet for a while up until now. "I'll be more than likely to destroy the woman who killed my parents… _if_ she killed my parents."

"Xavier…" warned Joe.

"I know Joe, but… sometimes it's hard to keep those feelings under control."

"Xavier," I replied, glaring at him. "You have to promise me! No deaths! Whatsoever if you can help it! And if you can't help it, you better try your damn best to help it!"

…

"Sorry. I didn't mean to go off on you like that."

"It's okay, I understand." Xavier came over and patted my shoulder. "I don't really want to kill people, either. So I won't."

"_Clefable?"_

Oh, man! Clefable's awakening reminded me that we were in the middle of a match when all this came up! "Hey, do you guys want to finish the match?" I asked Joe and Allison.

"You sure it's okay?" asked Allison.

"Yeah," I replied. "Everything will be fine." And I sincerly meant it. Because I'll do my part to protect everyone.

"I have no problem with battling now that Clefable is awake," said Allison.

"Actually, you _do _have a problem now that Clefable is awake," countered Joe. "We still won't go down easily!"

"Okay then, if everyone's ready…" Allison and Joe rushed back to where their Pokémon were. Heracross and Clefable were staring each other down.

"Commence!" I cried.

"Clefable, you and your clone power up a Meteor Mash!"

"Heracross, Endure the attacks!"

Heracross glowed blue again before one Clefable landed a Meteor Mash, sending Heracross staggering back a few paces.

"Now, Reversal!" Heracross took a hold of the second Clefable's arm (the real one) and flew suddenly into the air. It looped in the air, taking Clefable with it, then threw down Clefable with all of its might into the other clone, KOing it and making the other clone disappear.

"Clefable is unable to battle. Heracross is the victor!" I declared.

"All right! We win!" said Allison.

Joe walked over to his Clefable with a smile on his face. "Excellent job with the Endure/Reversal thing," he told Allison. "Reversal is most powerful when the Pokemon using it is on the ropes. Knowing that, you used Endure to ensure Heracross would not be knocked out by the attacks."

"Thanks... I really didn't know that. I usually use my Beautifly to battle more than Heracross."

"Is that right? Can I take a look at it?" asked Joe.

"Sure, hold on just a minute." Allison reached for her Pokéball. Finding it, she threw it in the air and Beautifly emerged.

Joe took a good look at Beautifly as if he was a detective or something similar. "Hmm... Very well raised. I assume that you specialize in Bug-type Pokémon, just like Aaron of the Elite Four."

"That's right, My dream is to battle with him one day," she replied

"I specialize in Psychic-type Pokémon, like Lucian of the Elite Four," proclaimed Xavier. He telekinetically lifted his three Pokéballs in the air. "Check it out!"

His three Pokémon: Medicham and Staryu, which we already knew, and a very energetic Spoink.

"Dude, wait a minute. Staryu isn't a Psychic-type," I pointed out.

Xavier countered, "Yeah, but I'm training one because I can do that. And its evolved form is a Psychic-type. And... I always wanted to throw one like a shuriken," he sheepishly finished.

"Yeah. But it's not easy to take down Steel-types," I bragged to Xavier. "Especially ones like these!" I threw my four Pokéballs in the air, and Skarmory, Scizor, Magnezone, and Steelix appeared.

Joe studied them with a keen eye. "Hmm... they all look tough. I hate to have to face a Steel-type Pokémon at times. They're resistant to a lot of attacks."

"Well, his aren't the only Steel-types." Allison took out her last Pokéball and brought out her Bronzor.

"Hmm, Bronzor. A Steel/Psychic-type."

"Yeah. This Bronzor was given to me to carry out missions for Team Galactic. They always rotate Pokémon through the trainers though, so they don't get to spend a lot of time with one person. So I took this one with me in the hope that I could find a trainer who will take good care of it better than I can." I watched along with everyone else as Allison seemed to be lost in thought.

It was a few minutes when she looked to Xavier and asked, "Xavier... how would you like to take care of Bronzor from now on?"

"What? Me?" Xavier asked, pointing to himself.

"That's right. I figured that since you use Psychic-type Pokémon, Bronzor would be a good addition to your team. But you have to promise me that you'll take good care of it." she pleaded.

"Let me think about it. Okay! Hey, Bronzor, come over here." Bronzor floated over to Xavier and his Pokémon. "I'll be your new trainer from now on! I hope we can be friends!"

_"Zor!"_

"Guys, we have a new ally!" Xavier told his Pokémon. "Treat Bronzor nicely, ok?"

All three of his Pokémon gave a unified cry of approval.

"Look at this; everyone's Pokémon have been introduced except mine. Guess it's time for me to show off." Joe took out his two remaining Pokéballs and brought out his Porygon-Z and his Tauros, who was currently sleeping.

"Would you look at this? The seventeen of us, heading out to rescue two people," Joe marveled, counting all of the Pokémon. "Between Terrence and Allison's knowledge of Team Galactic, my skill and Xavier's telekinesis, we should be able to succeed."

"It'll take quite a bit to take down Team Galactic. Especially at their headquarters," I reasoned. "Before I left Mt. Coronet, Cyrus told me that he was going to beef up security there."

"Humph. I raided the entire complex and defeated a Commander by myself. They can have everyone in Veilstone City guarding it for all I care. Cyrus can guard the front_ door._ I'm going to rip through it again! And this time, I _will_ rescue my mom and dad!" Xavier proclaimed, one fist pumped in the air.

"Terrence, Xavier's rant just brought something to my attention. What do the people in Veilstone think about Team Galactic?" Joe inquired.

"Well, Joe, most people don't like Team Galactic. Their building is ominous, especially with the spikes protruding from the sides. Some are just indiferent, except when they steal Pokémon from people that they actually know. However, they have never stolen a Pokémon from two places: inside Veilstone City itself or from Sunyshore City."

"Is that right?" asked Joe. "Well, I'll probably sleep on that. Let's all head back to my house; it's getting late. I'll need some help fixing food for everyone. You guys in?"

"Yeah!" Xavier, Allison, and I cried. Returning our Pokémon to their Pokéballs, the four of us walked back to Joe's house, with the setting sun to our backs.

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow, we set out to rescue Xavier's parents.

Our minds are set. With two new allies (and friends), Allison and I are going to return to face Team Galactic!


	10. Chapter 10: Honor Among Theives

**Author's Note:I haven't updated since December!? Are you serious!? I sincerely apologize, college and final exams are a killer, but I finished my last one today! Now I'm celebrating with a new chapter of EfTG!**

**Relax, Read, and Review, because you've been waiting for it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, as a lot of people wish they did. I wonder if they have a better chance than me?**

* * *

Chapter 10: (Honor) Among Thieves

Before we started on our rescue mission, Joe, Allison, Xavier and I had each a packed bag or two stuffed with clothes, food, and tents stacked near the door. Right now, Joe was preparing breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, croissants, white rice, and ice-cold Moomoo Milk. Meanwhile, Allison and I were outside preparing breakfast for our Pokémon, with Xavier lending a hand (or more like playing around with some food pellets, providing a little entertainment) while they waited.

It was then that Xavier saw someone coming his way. He apparently knew the guy because he waved him over. The figure turned out to be Carlton, the guy who told me about Xavier's predicament in the first place. Once he got to where we were, he stopped to take a good look at me and Allison. He seemed surprised to see the two of us. "So, you guys really are here…"

"Yeah, we are," I said. "If you don't know why, we're here to help Xavier get his parents back."

Carlton looked at us in wonder. "So, I was right. There really are nice people in that organization…"

"You're one of those kids we battled at that restaurant," Allison suddenly recalled. "Wait… where's your friend?"

"Friend?" His face soured instantly when he realized who we were talking about. "Oh, you mean Justin. We're not friends anymore," he said bluntly.

"…Was it because he abandoned you when you guys were running away from me after the battle?" I asked.

"Yeah, I still can't believe he would leave me to die. Granted, I _didn't_ die, but still…"

So, it turns out that I indirectly severed a bond of friendship that day. "Sorry Carlton. I didn't mean to ruin your friendship like that."

"I should be thanking you, really," replied Carlton. "If anything, that experience showed me what kind of friend he truly was. I vow to never follow his example." Looking behind me, he noticed the Pokémon off in their own world. "I see Xavier's Pokémon, so that means the rest are yours?"

"That's right. We use a lot of Bug and Steel-types," explained Allison.

"Don't you guys worry about weaknesses and stuff?"

"Just because a Pokémon has a type advantage over another doesn't mean that it will necessarily win." We all turned around to face Joe, who came out into the yard. "It also takes skill, and trust between the Pokémon and its trainer for them to come out on top."

"I understand." Carlton looked back to Xavier, his face showing a bit of concern while addressing him for the first time since coming over. "So is it true what you told me over the phone last night, Xavier?" he asked. "You're really going back to Veilstone?"

"That's right Carlton. My parents are still there. Or so he says," explained Xavier, casually pointing a thumb towards me.

"Well… I just wanted to wish you luck. And Joe knows what you're doing this time, so you won't have any trouble if you're surrounded. He's good in a tight spot."

"What kind of guardian would I be if I wasn't?" replied Joe matter-of-factly.

"Don't worry, dude. I'll make sure we rescue them," I reassured Carlton, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's the least I can do to repay him for saving my life."

"How did you… Oh, yeah. Xavier told me about that, too. You and your girlfriend were going to be blasted to bits by the creators of this region until he released those three captured legendaries. You guys are lucky, seeing so many legendaries in one place."

"It almost makes me wish I had a camera on me," said Allison. "But taking a picture when you're about to get attacked isn't such a good idea."

Everyone chuckled. When the laughter calmed down, I took the opportunity to speak. "People shouldn't use legendary Pokémon for their own purposes," I said. "They have such immense power though, and people are sometimes tempted to control that power, usually for evil purposes. That's why I abandoned Team Galactic in the first place. I was all for making the world a better place, or so they claimed, but messing with what should be left alone? I can't… I won't do it. I'd like to make a gradual change to the world we live in, not a sudden overhaul, you know?"

"I understand," replied Carlton. "I should do what I can to make a change, too. I need to get stronger so that I can become a Pokémon Ranger."

"We'll all get stronger," said Xavier. "And we'll set everything right along the way. Right, Joe?"

"Of course we will, X. Breakfast is ready, so we have to get back inside. Do you want anything, Carlton?" Joe offered.

"Nah, that's OK, I already ate some cereal about an hour ago," Carlton replied. "I'll leave you guys to eat, and good luck out there!"

"Thank you," said Allison. "You stay safe as well."

* * *

Veering away eastward from the tall grass on Route 219 leads to the (usually) soft rains of Route 220. The sprinkles raining down on the four of us caused us to quicken our pace just a little bit. Xavier, however, felt the need to complain about it, raindrops glistening off the metallic front of his headband. "Why is it that every time I go to Veilstone, it rains? The sky is always crying whenever we come here. Always!"

"This is nothing compared to Route 217," I countered. "When Allison and I were on our way to Mt. Coronet, we left Pastoria City and had to trudge through a swamp in heavy rain. Nothing can be worse than that."

"Oh, I remember that," said Allison with a shudder. "People kept getting left behind because they got stuck in the muck all the time." She was right. That swamp was something like a death trap. You couldn't take three good steps without having one of your feet go in deeper than you expected. Some of the grunts struggled so much they when they finally managed to get free, they fell and managed to get their whole bodies stuck. We were way behind because those of us who weren't stuck (and there weren't many of us) had to help our fellow comrades. No wonder Mars and Jupiter got to Hearthome before us.

Only Cyrus didn't get stuck. Either he had been through the swamp enough to memorize the best way to go by heart, or he had some innate ability to just… know where to step. I wonder: would he have even complained if he got stuck at all?

"Well, Pastoria is practically built on a swamp," acknowledged Joe. "It makes a good habitat for water-type Pokémon. No wonder Wake—I mean, Crasher Wake— the gym leader there, specializes in them. Raising a Pokémon in what could be considered its natural habitat would bring out its natural potential."

"What about Porygon-Z?" Allison asked. "What would be _its_ natural habitat?"

Joe thought about it. After ten seconds, he replied, "Nothing really comes to mind. Porygon- Z is an evolved form of a manmade Pokémon… Perhaps someplace urban, maybe…"

"RAZOR LEAF!" a female trainer with a loud voice shouted nearby, breaking Joe out of his reverie.

"With all the talking we were doing, I never noticed we were near a…"

"Terrence, watch out!" Allison tackled me to the wet, slightly muddy ground.

"Huh?" I blinked in confusion. "Allison, what's going on?"

Xavier spoke in her place. "That Razor Leaf attack was aimed at us!"

One thought immediately entered my mind.

Ambush!

By Team Galactic?

But none of the grunts—or the Commanders, for that matter—uses grass-type Pokemon. Whoever it is has a lot of nerve attacking four people at once.

Allison quickly raised herself off of me and helped me to my feet. To my surprise, there were sharp leaves whirling around the four of us in a circle. This is not a normal Razor Leaf attack. Why are the leaves surrounding us instead of going straight forward?

"Come out, wherever you are!" cried Xavier. "I got sharp leaves and I'm not afraid to use them!"

Oh. Xavier with his telekinesis. Not only did he stop the attack, but he's using the attack to protect us from further assaults.

The kid has smarts. Maybe it comes with the powers…?

"I'll come out," the mysterious woman said in a low voice, "but only if you send the rich guy forward."

She's after Joe? Well, only rich guys wear monocles. This might turn into a hostage situation.

"What exactly do you want from me?" Joe spoke up.

"You guys have heard about me enough to know what I want, so I'm not even going to go into that," she countered. Appearing from behind a bush wearing a black sports bra, black fingerless gloves, a long black skirt with a long cut from ankle to mid thigh, and black boots, she stood with one hand on her hips, the other brushing her soaked, braided ponytail free of any foliage attached to it. With a smile on her face and a mischievous glint in her blue eyes, she proclaimed, "Surely you know of me, the great Robin? The woman who aims to take down aristocracy anywhere she sees it?"

The four of us looked at each other for a good moment before turning back towards her, Xavier dropping the leaves as he did so. "Never head of you," the four of us chorused.

"You really haven't heard of me?" she asked in an incredulous tone. We all shook our heads.

"Seriously?"

Four more head shakes.

Robin face-palmed herself. Quickly regaining her posture, she replied, "You guys must not be from Sinnoh."

"Actually, Joe and I live in Solaceon Town."

"Xavier!" Joe chided.

"So, you _are_ from around here!" she said. "Let's get to the point, though. You," she said, pointing a wet finger at Joe.

"Yes, Robin?"

"Give me your money. All of it," she demanded.

"Why should I?" Joe shot back.

"Because if you don't, I'll take it by force. Even if I have to go through all of your lackeys first."

"Do we really look like lackeys to you?" I asked. "Nobody works for anyone around here. We're on our way to save a couple of people."

"And I'm trying to save myself! And bring down the high and mighty at the same time!" Robin countered. "Every wealthy punk deserves every bit of what's coming to them. Right, Nuzleaf?"

A brown, mid-sized, humanlike Pokémon with a pointy nose and a leaf on the top of its head leaped out of the bushes and somersaulted to a stand next to Robin. _"Leaf!"_

"A Nuzleaf!" cried Allison. Xavier got out his Pokedex in a flash and scanned it. It said, _"Nuzleaf. The Wily Pokémon. Nuzleaf is the evolved form of Seedot. The sound of its grass flute makes its listeners uneasy. It lives deep in forests."_

"True, but that doesn't tell you how you can beat it!" Robin proclaimed. "Nuzleaf and I won't lose to any of you!" She appeared to calm down just a bit. "Losing equals hardship and suffering. The same hardship and suffering that I had to deal with years ago!"

Wait. Is she attacking us so she can get a small piece of revenge for something that happened to her in the past? Why target Joe because he is rich?

…Oh yeah, that's why she targeted him. Duh. But still, he doesn't even know her! It's not like he ever did her wrong!

"I swore that I would alleviate my suffering as much as possible while I'm still alive," she spoke in a low voice. "And I also vowed to increase the suffering of the people who did this to me. Like you, rich punk."

"But this the first time I ever met you! I had nothing to do with your suffering, wherever it came from," Joe reasoned.

But Robin continued on as if she didn't hear him. "Just because you're loaded with money, and you live in a big mansion with more servants than Pokémon discovered so far, it doesn't mean you can play dumb and get away with it!"

"But my house isn't that big, and I don't even have ser…"

"Shut up!" Robin bellowed. "I'm sick of talking to you, always thinking you can talk down to people like they're nothing. I'm hungry, and I'm battle weary, but I'll continue on until my dying breath!" She forgot to mention that she was delusional. She's accusing him of all kinds of things.

"I'll give you 5,000 Pokédollars…" Joe blurted out. Is he trying to buy out of the inevitable battle? But he's supposed to be good, right? Any respectful trainer wouldn't just _bargain_ their way out of this situation.

So I walked up to him and let him have a piece of my mind. "Joe," I started. "You don't have to give her anything. There's four of us, and only one of her. She's not showing it, but she knows we can defeat her easily. All we have to do…"

"You didn't let me finish, Terrence." Wait, there was more? Joe took advantage of my momentary stop to my speech to talk back to Robin. "I'll give you the money under one condition."

Her eyes narrowed. So much they almost seemed closed. "It's not all you have, but whatever. Name it."

"All you have to do is win a one-on-one battle against me. My strongest against your strongest. Nobody else will be involved." There you go, Joe. "Listen. Do you hate rich people because of what some bigwigs did to you? If so, I admire your… enthusiasm to get revenge. But don't think ill of me because based on the mere fact that I have more wealth than most people, because I never caused you any harm. I can see you have conviction, but do you and your Pokémon have the skills to back it up?"

"We can back it up 24/7! And I just _know_ you're only making this challenge out of pride. Everyone knows that rich people make the worst battlers around. So, I accept!" Robin smirked.

"Is that what you really think?" Joe wondered out loud. "Just like you think that I suck at this kind of this kind of thing, I believe that you sorely underestimate me." He pulled out one of his Premier Balls and threw it forward. "Go, Porygon-Z!"

_PING!_

"_Rain, rain, go away; come again on Monday…"_Porygon-Z chimed.

"No time to sing in the rain, Porygon-Z," began Joe. "We have a battle to win."

Robin set her scrutinizing eyes on Porygon-Z and scoffed. "Just like a rich person to have one of those extremely rare Pokémon. I don't even know what that thing _is_. It doesn't matter, because Nuzleaf is going to destroy it anyway." On cue, Nuzleaf jumped a good distance in front of her, taking a fighting stance.

"The first move is yours, Robin," Joe offered.

"Humph. Nuzleaf, Quick Attack!" Everyone watched as Nuzleaf briefly crouched down on all fours, and then shot rapidly forward through the sort rains towards Porygon-Z as if it were in a track meet.

"Tri Attack! Now!" commanded Joe. But before Porygon-Z could even begin to build a decent amount of power for its attack…

"_Nuz…leaf!"_

WHAM!

Nuzleaf slammed into it with its side, knocking Porygon-Z backwards a fair amount.

"Whimps," Robin sneered at her opponents. "Extrasensory!" Nuzleaf began to take on a yellow aura, and pointed towards Porygon-Z, who also began to glow yellow around the edges. But Nuzleaf was in full control, if Porygon-Z's spinning head was any indication. Nuzleaf, as if its opponent was attached to a string, jerked it left, then right, and then slammed it into the ground violently, ending the attack.

"Joe is losing! He's visibly losing! This is a rare moment in Pokémon trainer history," said Xavier out loud.

"I wonder if he's regretting the bet he made with her now," remarked Allison. I'd like to know that myself. Granted, 5,000 Pokédollars is probably nothing to Joe; he could make it back easily. Wait a minute. What if he's losing on purpose? He really wants to help this woman, whoever she is, even though she hates him.

"Time to end this, Nuzleaf. Use Razor Leaf and follow up with Payback!" Robin commanded.

"Porygon-Z, float a little higher and use Ice Beam on those leaves!" cried Joe. As Nuzleaf sent leaves hurtling towards it, the sleek normal-type Pokémon fired an icy cold beam directly on the leaves, freezing them.

Dude! I see what he's trying to do! Nuzleaf is running into a trap!

Nuzleaf, now running, gathered dark energy into its right hand to prepare for the Payback attack, but was caught off guard when it began raining frozen leaves around it. It could do nothing but try to dance its way around all of them.

"You're trapped!" Joe exclaimed. "Tri Attack!" Porygon-Z began gathering energy again. Three balls of alternating red, yellow, and blue colors shone brightly around it, and then launched themselves like miniature rockets at the frantic Nuzleaf, who was almost done dodging the frozen sharp leaves.

BOOM!

"Nuzleaf!" cried Robin.

That was some show of skill coming from Joe. Using Nuzleaf's attack against it, he was then able to land a powerful blow of its own. And Nuzleaf could do nothing but take the attack.

When the smoke cleared, Nuzleaf was on its back in a shallow crater, knocked out cold.

"…No. Nuzleaf!" Robin ran over towards her fallen Pokémon, picked it up, and cradled it. "Damn, we lost. More suffering at the hands of an aristocrat."

"…I'm sorry, Robin. You gave me a great battle, though."

"But I didn't win." She looked back up at Joe, eyes hardened. "So, this is the part where I retreat and swear to defeat you next time, right?"

"Not yet." Joe reached into his pocket and took out the 5,000 he had promised upon winning and handed it to Robin. He really wanted to help her after all.

She didn't notice at first because she put Nuzleaf back in its Pokéball, but when she looked back up at him, she turned her back on it, her long ponytail brushing against Joe's face, leaving a wet mark. "Sorry, I don't do handouts. I want to feel like I accomplished something when I earn money," she explained.

"…Just take it. It's not a handout. Think of it as motivation to defeat me next time," Joe offered.

"Punk. Your defeating me is _more_ than enough motivation for that, don't you think?"

"But didn't you say that you were hungry?"

"Of course I did!" Robin blurted out. "But I'm not going to be treated like a charity case! I _refuse_. I either get it all on my terms, or nothing at all! Do you really want me to think that you actually _care_?"

"Yes," replied Joe, "because I do."

"Well, your worry is misplaced, then. You should go back to caring about your own well-being, like everyone else in your position. Because next time, I will defeat you. And maybe, just maybe, our roles will be reversed." As she began to walk away, she turned her head so she could see us one more time. "Joe... right? You know, you're different from all the others I've encountered. Who taught you to battle?"

"Nobody. I read books constantly about battle strategy," Joe replied.

"Ugh. Bookworms," spat Robin. "I honestly hope this isn't the last time I see you again. Well, I know where you live, so maybe I'll come by for a visit." Maybe it was just me, but the corners of her lips seemed to curve upwards into a smile. "See you later, punk." And then she just turned around and took off, almost tripping over the wet ground as she did.

Joe's voice suddenly broke my thoughts when she disappeared. "You know, I never thought I would say something like this, but I hope I get to see her again as well."

Say what!? He wants to get put through that again? "Dude, why?" I asked him.

He stared off in the direction our former assailant had made her exit. "Because I want her to be okay. Maybe I can help her somehow."

"You can't help those who want to hurt you." This came from Xavier. "What you need to do next time is take her captive. Maybe she was putting up a front for one of those Team Galactic people."

"Even though we're close to Veilstone, I doubt that's the case," Allison told him. "She didn't look anything like a normal Grunt. Or a Commander, either."

"Commanders." Xavier's brow bristled with anger for a moment, but disappeared as quickly as it came. "Well, everyone got out of that okay, so let's keep going. The sooner I save my parents—and the sooner I get my hands on Mars—the better."

We continued along the path to Velistone, each of us keeping silent. Our encounter with Robin set us on high alert for anyone else traveling the path, especially Galactic Grunts and others that are… well, rough around the edges.

That Robin chick is not your ordinary thief. Most people would've taken the money without a second thought. And she only targets rich people, not your everyday traveler, and they must be few and far between. She's a Sharpedo looking for the big fish, big time.

It's only two days until we get to Veilstone. And then we rescue Xavier's parents from Galactic HQ. My thoughts began to drift towards the impending encounter.

What will everyone think of me?

How did Cyrus's failed endeavor affect Team Galactic, if at all?

Will Xavier really kill Commander Mars?

Cyrus said that HQ was going to be highly reinforced after my battle with him at the Spear Pillar. He's had a whole week to prepare. Does he expect me to appear again, and so soon at that?

All I can honestly say is this:

I will not allow Team Galactic to hurt my friends or my chances at freedom.

I… we will prevail!


End file.
